Remnant
by Rapidfyrez
Summary: She was a Prodigy unlike any other, the top of her class, the best of the best. Now, she is but a remnant of her former self. Pyrrha Nikos, Huntress and friend, was thought dead. But she lives in a new strange world without Grimm, without Huntresses. She is lost and alone, save for one ally. Harry Dresden, Chicago PI and Professional Wizard, is more than happy to help Pyrrha home.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Cold. Why was it so cold? Summer had only just begun to come to a close, and fall in Vale was never particularly harsh. But this was a bitter, biting cold that burned straight to her heart. Pyrrha Nikos wrapped her arms around her chest and shuddered. This frigid weather wasn't right, nothing felt right.

There was a flash of light, and a clap of thunder. Pyrrha's eyes snapped open and she gasped for air, arching her back in agony. That was no cold she felt, it was a pain in the center of her chest, one that rapidly faded. Soon it was no more than a dull pain that throbbed in time with the beat of her heart. Pyrrha got her breathing under some measure of control, and slowly slid back down onto the ground.

Her hands trembled as she reached up to her chest where the pain was. The touch of her fingers showed no wounds though, only smooth pale flesh. Pyrrha let out a shaky breath of relief. She hurt, but there was no visible injury she could find. A doctor would be better for finding any internal injuries.

She realized that for a doctor to help her though, she'd need to get moving. Pyrrha started to get her hands under her. The asphalt dug into the bare skin of her hands, but she pushed and started to get her legs under her. Light flashed in her eyes, pain shot up her leg, and Pyrrha fell onto her side, fire racing up her left leg.

Teeth clenched, she took a glance down at her leg, and quickly identified the problem. A hole the size of a golf ball had been punched clean through her calf. That would certainly explain the intense pain she was feeling.

It did not explain why she was completely naked.

The young woman immediately covered herself to preserve some measure of modesty, and tried to remember how she had wound up how she was. All her armor, her clothes, and her weapons were gone. Pyrrha was stark naked in the middle of… actually, she had no idea where she was.

A quick glance up showed tall buildings stretching up and up above her, into a night filled with dark clouds. A glance to her left showed a dirty brick wall, and a glance to her right showed the exit out of what must have been an alleyway, where the only source of light was available. A near empty dumpster and a handful of trash cans almost blocked the exit, but besides that, the alley was abandoned.

Pyrrha took a deep breath, "Okay Pyrrha, obviously you're in a city, most likely Vale. D-don't make any assumptions until you know otherwise."

A cool breeze made her shiver again, and made her grateful she was alone. If her friends saw her as she was, Pyrrha didn't think she'd ever live it down. Jaune's reaction might make it worth it, but that was irrelevant at this point. Her first priority, she decided, was to get to the nearest hospital.

While Pyrrha's aura might be preventing her wound from being life threatening, without proper medical treatment it could get infected, or leave her crippled. No waiting around for her, she was going to have to get out of here on her own. Easier said than done.

Pyrrha looked at her injured leg again, and winced. It was a surprisingly neat wound, and seemed relatively clean. The skin around it had already begun to pucker around the edges, and the bleeding was surprisingly minimal. Slowly, she moved the leg, and while the pain spiked once again, it was bearable.

Resting her hand on the wall behind her, Pyrrha sucked in a breath, clenched her teeth tight, and mentally counted to three. On two, she quickly hauled herself up, and bit back a scream of agony. Stars flashed in her vision, her left leg quickly went limp, and she fell back to the earth. At the last moment, she managed to push herself back against the wall, and leaned limply against it, breathing hard.

Sweat coated her forehead, and her long red hair had quickly fallen into a dirty mess around her, matting against her back and arms. It was one of those times she wished she'd cut it shorter. In a combat situation, it was just a liability, and now it was a mess that served no purpose but to get in her way.

"Okay, okay," Pyrrha sucked in a breath, "It hurts, but I-I can handle it. B-besides, it can't get much worse than this…"

Naked in the middle of the city with a large injury on her leg? It was rather hard to top that. Thunder boomed overhead, and rain began to fall, quickly soaking her in the downpour. Pyrrha leaned against the wall, and silently fumed. With a puff of anger, she flicked her hair out of her face and began to move forward, using the wall as her personal crutch.

For every step she took, electric pain shot up her leg, and made her bite back another scream. She may have been a champion fighter, but Pyrrha had never taken an injury this intense before. The trip from where she'd woken up to the nearest trash can, was some of the longest moments of her life. But she pressed on, and when she reached the steel cylinder, she collapsed against it with a hollow _'twang!'_ of impact.

Trembling still, she struggled to push herself up, while the rain continued to pour on her. The ground was growing slick, and the blood of her wound had colored it a dark red. She was getting tired with every passing minute, but she pressed on anyway. When safety and medical attention were within reach, then she would rest.

A few more steps brought her to the dumpster, and she felt relieved. An old blue rain tarp, cracked and frayed from years under the elements, was draped over the far side of the dumpster. Pyrrha limped forward, pulled it free, and tied it around her chest into a makeshift dress. At least it would preserve her modesty, and provide a mild protection from the rain.

The rain, however, was the least of her problems. As Pyrrha started forward again, feeling a little more comfortable, and a little more confident, she heard a familiar noise. A deep growl that came from the back of the alley. This was not the growl of an animal, but of an ancient beast, a creature filled with nothing but hatred and rage. This growl was the embodiment of that creature, for it was nothing but hate. No sense of life, meaning, or thought, just pure, raw hatred.

Pyrrha froze, and her heart began to beat faster, "A Grimm? In Vale?"

Such a notion was impossible, yet Pyrrha knew with one hundred percent certainty that she had heard the growl of a Grimm, a Beowolf to be specific. There was, of course, only one way to be sure. So Pyrrha turned around, slowly, to make sure.

Gleaming red eyes burned at the far end of the alleyway, locked onto Pyrrha. They narrowed when she saw them, and the wall suddenly moved. No, not the wall, merely the shadow that had been standing before it. The Grimm moved forward, into the light, and Pyrrha knew that she was dealing with a Beowolf, one of the most common Grimm in existence.

It had a bipedal shape, but was obviously not human. Greasy black fur hung from its limbs, pressed flat by the rain. Bone white protrusions grew from its arms, legs, and back. Its face was a red lined skull, glittering under the little light that was cast on it. The beast was huge, larger than most car. Clearly it was an older Beowolf, which was why it hadn't immediately attacked her. It had waited to see how much of a threat she would pose and came to the obvious conclusion that she wasn't one.

Far as Pyrrha was concerned, it was right. In any other situation, she could handle it. But she had no weapons, her Aura was exhausted from keeping her leg together, and she barely had enough energy to walk down an alley, let alone use her Semblance to defend herself from it. There was only one option available to her.

Run.

Run as hard and fast she could.

There was no debate, Pyrrha turned and ran. Or rather hobbled, given the state of her leg. She limped out of the alley onto the sidewalk and saw the streets were surprisingly empty. Behind her, the Grimm howled and lunged, its powerful legs launching it right at her. It easily caught the crippled Huntress in one leap. Pyrrha's honed instincts managed to save her from a rather messy end, but the Grimm's arms clipped her head.

More flashes of pain, and she went down in a pile of limbs and rain tarp. The Grimm dug its claws into the asphalt and twisted around to face her. It let loose a furious snarl, peeling its lips back to expose unnaturally large and sharp fangs.

Pyrrha pushed herself up slowly, and blinked rain out of her eyes. She saw the Grimm crouching forward, saw its muscles rolling under its hide, and she knew she was done for. This was not how she had expected to die. A blaze of glory perhaps, a final stand, but not cold, wet, and afraid.

"Someone!" she screamed, a last ditch effort, "Help! Please! Anyone!?"

No response, but she had expected that. The Grimm tensed, Pyrrha closed her eyes tight, and…

There was a squeal of rubber and shrieking steal. The Grimm howled in surprise, and the ground shook a moment later. Something had hit the oversized creature and sent it flying. She opened her eyes and saw that, indeed, that was what happened. A small, bulbous, car was parked in front of her, its hood caved in from where the Grimm had hit, and the windshield had shattered.

Across the street, the Grimm pulled itself back to its feet and while one of its arms was bent at an unnatural angle, it was otherwise unharmed. It turned to the car, and let loose a roar that shook the street.

The car door flew open, and a man in a large leather duster stepped out. He was very tall, and he held a large wooden staff in his right hand. Runes smoldered on its surface, and though Pyrrha couldn't make out his features very well, she could tell that he was angry at the Grimm. Frankly, she could agree with him on that front.

The man slammed his staff into the ground, and Pyrrha felt power flow through the ground. Whoever this guy was, he had plenty of power to spare. He retrieved a small wooden rod from his coat and pointed it at the Grimm.

"So, you like chasing teenagers, do ya Snoopy?" he demanded.

The Grimm howled in response, and charged forward. Pyrrha opened her mouth to warn the man, but quickly realized it was a pointless gesture. With a flick of his wrist, a field of shimmering blue energy stopped the Grimm in its tracks. The force of its impact sent ripples of blue energy over this strange shield, but it remained firm. In fact, all that energy was quickly reflected back at the Grimm, and it bounced harmlessly off it.

Pyrrha's jaw remained hanging as she watched the man step forward and raise his rod again, "Right, that's what I thought."

The air shivered around him for a split second, and then…

' _Fuego!'_

A stream of fire no thicker than her fist lanced forward, hissing under the rain. It cut through the air, and the Grimm with surgical precision. The beast had time to let out a strangled yelp, then fell to the ground in two pieces. Inky smoke began to rise from its corpse almost immediately. The beast was dead.

"…Oh my…." Was all that Pyrrha could say. Obviously she was in the presence of a graduated Hunter, who could use his Aura so effectively, and without even moving from his spot too. Her luck looked to be turning around.

The man stared at the corpse for a moment, to make sure it was dead, and then turned to the injured young woman lying at his feet. The anger on his face vanished, and he quickly moved to her side, kneeling next to her.

"You okay kid?"

Pyrrha swallowed and nodded, "Y-yes, thank you, sir."

The man chuckled, "You're welcome, but please don't call me sir, I'm not that old yet. Just call me Harry. Harry Dresden."

 **A/N: I've returned from my long hiatus with a new story, improved writing skills, and a new drive. College has been tough on me, and I won't deny that looking back at my old stories... They're terrible. Absolutely terrible save for a few. I don't intend on updating them save for a select few maybe. If someone is interested in adopting them, send a PM my way, and we'll talk.**

 **Back to the story at hand though. The above was thought of when I realized my other story, Heroes and Wizards, had a crucial flaw. I'd brought someone far too powerful into the Dresdenverse. I love Power Girl, but she's a league all her own and takes away a lot of the fun of a Dresden File crossover. Couple that with my recent binge of RWBY (Again) and the result is this fic. I've planned this one out in advance though, and have a plan. I've already written a few chapters ahead of this one in anticipation for when I released it, so here's how updates will work.**

 **Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday you can expect a new update. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this schedule consistent, as I am writing this fic and working on my actual book at the same time. If I can't maintain the schedule, I will give you all an update and take a hiatus so that I may accumulate more chapters in the future. I will also be taking a break after my twelth chapter goes live. Until then, I should be keeping consistent. At least, that's the plan.**

 **I hope you've all enjoyed the story, and I look forward to your thoughts and comments!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Edited : August 4th, 2016  
**

 **Chapter 1**

Pyrrha's rescue was a blur of pictures and moments in time. A combination of stress, exhaustion, and blood loss had lulled her into a delirious state of confusion. She vaguely remembered being helped into the man's car, but that was all she could confidently recall. Everything else was a dreamy blur of colors and sounds.

The next thing she did remember was waking up in a bed. It was a full king size bed, soft to the touch with light cotton sheets. The room itself was rather cramped, but made efficient use of the space it had. It was furnished with secondhand furniture, and half a dozen throw only light came from a fireplace nestled in the wall that cast soft shadows every which way.. A handful of easy chairs and a comfortable-looking couch were well spaced through the room. A few scuffed-up old bookshelves, cheap and sturdy, lined the walls, and contained what looked to be a sizable personal library. A counter was situated across from the bed, and there was a small fridge and electric griddle built into it

All in all, it was a very comfy looking room, and Pyrrha felt her mind relax. This certainly didn't seem like some sort of Grimm nest, or an abandoned part of the city. It was just a normal room, in a normal house. She could live with that. The real question was where had the owner disappeared to?

The man who rescued her was nowhere to be seen. What was his name? Barry? Larry? Kerry? No, it was Harry. Harry Dresden. Yeah, that was it.

Pyrrha pushed herself up and rubbed her forehead with the palm of her hand. She must've been asleep for some time, she was stiff and sore. Or perhaps it was just a matter of exhaustion. Something, somehow, had drained her Aura and left her nearly dead. Even with her leg injury, she could've handled a Grimm, or at least given a better showing than she had. In hindsight, she supposed she was far more exhausted than she had first guessed.

That had changed now, among other things. A quick glance down showed that, yes, Pyrrha had clothes again. Her mysterious rescuer must have given them to her in her sleep. She wore a long black shirt and a short pair of red pajama shorts. On her shirt across the chest was a monochrome image of several multi sided dice and written in block print, "COME TO THE DORK SIDE. DO NOT MAKE ME DESTROY YOU."

She picked at the shirt, and smiled faintly. This seemed like something Jaune might have worn before he came to Beacon Academy. Her teammate, and very close friend, the young man wasn't what she would call a warrior, or particularly coordinated. Or even mildly competent - well, at least according to others, and sometimes, she had to agree with them. But he was honest about himself, and if anyone was asked to describe him with one word, dork might be the word they chose. Pyrrha preferred the term friend, or caring, but that was just her; and even she couldn't deny that Jaune could indeed be a complete dork. That was one reason she…

Pyrrha shook her head, this wasn't the time to reminisce. She needed answers, and she needed them sooner rather than later. Finding her savior would be the quickest way to achieve that goal, and so she threw off the sheets, and flexed her leg. A dull pain rolled up the limb, but it was a far cry from the lightning strike of agony she had felt earlier. A quick examination of her calf showed that, in her sleep, someone had tended to her wounds. A series of gauze bandages were wrapped tightly around her calf, and stained rusty red. Flexing her leg revealed what she had suspected. With time to relax and recover from her trauma, Pyrrha's Aura had replenished, taking care of her wound.

A quick removal of her bandages showed that, yes, the wound had been stitched shut. Where the stitch marks were supposed to be, there was only a thick mass of scar tissue. In a few more days, it would probably fade into another beauty mark. She had a few on various parts of her body, a lifetime of fighting and an exceptionally strong Aura meant that she very rarely accumulated scars.

Gingerly testing the limb, Pyrrha smiled and carefully swung her legs over the side of the bed and onto the floor. More dull pain, and the concrete floor on her bare feet made her shiver, but it was hardly crippling. She could walk now, which meant she could finally get some damn answers.

"Watch your language Pyrrha," she murmured to herself, but remained smiling. No matter the situation, manners were always important.

Speaking of, it was time she found and thanked Mr. Dresden for rescuing her. A short limp across the bedroom brought her to the door, and Pyrrha eased it open. She was surprised to find a… well, a cavern of an apartment.

The living room reminded her of a training dojo in sheer size, with equally high ceilings. There was a small bar separating the kitchen from the rest of the open space. There was a fireplace with what looked like a living room set around it in one corner of the room, and a second section of comfy chairs and a desk tucked into a nook lined with built-in bookshelves. There was a weight set, too, along with an elliptical machine, both looked expensive. The floors were hardwood, covered by carpets in places. A few more doors led off from this main room.

"Wow," Pyrrha murmured. While certainly not the most impressive building she'd seen, for what she had to guess was one man, it was far more than she thought anyone would need. The small guest room she'd been staying in was minuscule compared to the apartment itself.

The owner, her rescuer, was sitting by the lit fireplace, with another man. He was significantly shorter than Harry, with sharp high features, and wiry black hair that seemed to stick up in whatever direction it felt like. He had a scrawny build, and was wearing blue hospital scrubs. A large medical bag rested next to him, and between the short man and Harry, was a small table where a… a human skull was placed between them.

What in the world?

"I don't get it Harry," the shorter man said. His voice had a nasally edge to it, but it was more charming than irritating. He wrung his hands together nervously as he spoke. "We don't know anything about this girl, you should have taken her to an actual hospital."

Harry was leaned forward and wore a look of patience that suggested he had this conversation often and with repeated results. Now that she saw him in better light, Pyrrha could make out some of his features. He had a strong jawline, and a clean shaven face. His hair was cut short and by the looks of it, he did it himself rather often. A scar crossed over one of his eyes, and the slight angle of his nose suggested that it had been broken at one time. He was also a big, big man. Nearly seven feet tall, and though he wasn't particularly bulky, his lean build suggested plenty of mass on his oversized frame.

Harry rubbed his face once and sighed, "Under any other circumstance, I'd have agreed, Butters. Random girl runs into the street wearing nothing but a rain tarp and with a bloody hole in her leg? Strange. But you saw that thing that came out after her. Whoever she is, she's obviously got someone or something pissed at her. I'd rather keep her somewhere safe until I can get some answers, and I don't mix well with hospitals"

The man, Butters, shook his head, "You should consider yourself lucky I was with you at the time. You might know some basic medical tricks, but an injury like that could've killed her without proper treatment. Me being along for the ride was lucky coincidence."

"Yeah, coincidence," Harry chuckled, "Is that what you're still calling it, Jedi of the Cross?"

Butters ducked his head sheepishly,"I've told you before, I don't think every event in my life is dictated by that, Harry. Sometimes a coincidence is just that, a coincidence."

Harry folded his arms, and gave Butters a wry smile, "Butters, Butters, Butters. I've seen Knights in action. Coincidence is their super power."

"If you say so," Butters sighed. He looked away from Harry, and frowned. His big eyes widened when he saw Pyrrha standing by the door. She'd eased it shut behind her while they spoke and smiled awkwardly at him.

Harry caught onto the pause and followed Butters gaze. He blinked in surprise when he saw Pyrrha. She gave a nervous little wave, "Hello again."

"And so the mystery girl awakens," Harry murmured, sounding amused.

Butters was on his feet within seconds, "Miss, I know you must be confused right now, but you shouldn't be walking on that injured leg."

Pyrrha blinked and looked down at her leg, "Oh, my leg. Right. It's fine now, I take it you're the one who patched me up?"

Harry and Butters exchanged a look. Butters began to stutter, "Y-you're… But… I'm sorry, just...sit down here, , please."

Pyrrha did as she was asked, while Butters scurried over to her. Behind him, Harry rose and casually strolled closer. His big leather duster was gone now, and he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, which read 'NERD? I PREFER THE TERM INTELLECTUAL BADASS' in all bold white. That confirmed her suspicions on where she got her new shirt from, and explained why it was practically a mini-dress on her.

Despite his surprising height and size, Harry moved with the care and restraint of someone who was afraid that if he moved too fast, he'd break something or someone. A feeling Pyrrha could relate to, with her own six-foot height pushing her far above most girls and plenty of guys.

"Harry, I need a chair!" Butters snapped when he reached Pyrrha.

The tall man turned without missing a beat, "On it," he drawled, and retrieved two chairs from the mini-bar, hefting them with ease.

Pyrrha barely had time to try and protest before she suddenly found herself sitting down with her formerly injured leg propped up on one of the chairs. The two men had far more experience with tending to injured people that didn't want to be tended to than was normal for most. Pyrrha blew a few loose strands of hair out eye and folded her hands on her lap while Butters poked at her scar and gaped.

"That's… it… How is that even possible?" his voice shook.

Pyrrha raised a brow in mild surprise. Surely a doctor would know about the Aura abilities of a Huntress. Then again, based on what Harry said, it was entirely possible that Butters wasn't actually a qualified doctor. This whole situation just kept getting stranger and stranger.

Butters looked from her leg, to Pyrrha, to Harry, to her leg and back again. He did this three times before promptly standing up, "I'll be right back with my medical kit, do not move. You've got stitches I'll need to remove and it won't be easy with all that scar tissue there."

"Of course Doctor." Pyrrha said, smiling. Trying to operate on her with her Aura active wouldn't work out well under normal circumstances if she were younger, or Jaune, but Pyrrha had enough control over her abilities that she could relax the mystical shield in the scar's area.

Butters shook his head and walked off, leaving her alone with Harry, who was sitting on another stool he'd dragged over. She glanced at him and saw him resting his hands on his thighs and watching her intently. He wasn't leering at her, more… analyzing her, trying to get a read on her. It was an expression she often saw during combat, but his was almost… predatory. Pyrrha felt her skin crawl, and immediately relaxed her posture to appear less threatening. She also made sure not to let Harry completely leave her sight.

Harry caught the gesture, and immediately stopped. He awkwardly clapped his hands together, and said, "I... don't think we ever got your name, miss."

Pyrrha glanced back at him, and forced a smile, "Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Pyrrha Nikos... and thank you for saving me Mr. Dresden."

Harry looked at the returning Butters, and smirked, "Hear that? Mister Dresden. That's what we call respect, Butters."

The short man grunted with disinterest, "Hmph, yeah, respect."

"You're just jealous," Harry huffed, and turned back to Pyrrha, "So, Ms. Nikos, care to explain what in the hell we literally ran into last night? Got a big old dent in my new car and don't even know what the beastie was that did it."

Butters grumbled something under his breath, and popped open his medical bag. Harry looked indignant, "Hey, don't diss the Blue Beetle Mk. II. It's new to me."

Butters raised his hands defensively for a moment, then started pulling medical equipment from his bag. Deciding between watching Butters cut open the scar on her leg and catching that predatory gaze again, Pyrrha went with the lesser of two evils, and looked at Harry again. She immediately noted that he was taking great pains to avoid eye contact with her and Butters.

If the look he had given her wasn't unnerving enough, what really rubbed Pyrrha the wrong way was the fact that he didn't recognize the Grimm. Everyone knew of the Grimm, and Hunters knew what the Grimm were. Creatures of darkness that had existed since long before humans walked the surface of Remnant, that fed off the dark and negative emotions of humans. They didn't eat, they didn't sleep, they only existed to destroy. Everyone knew what Grimm were, even if they'd never personally seen one. Which begged the question of how her rescuers didn't know what it was, or why her leg was healed.

Her lips curved into a frown, and Pyrrha chose her next words carefully, "I… can tell you, Mr. Dresden. But only if you answer a question for me first."

"Deal," Harry spread his hands, "Ask away."

Pyrrha nodded and pursed her lips, "Where… am I?"

"Chicago, Illinois," said Butters, without looking up from his work.

Harry nodded in confirmation, "That's the place."

"Chi-cago…" Pyrrha tested the word, frowning, "I can't say I've heard of this city. Or the Kingdom it's in either. I thought there were only four."

"Um…" Pyrrha looked at Butters. He had stopped working to stare at her.

"What?"

The little man blinked once, then looked at Harry. Pyrrha watching them both. Mild annoyance flashed across her face, but she remained patient. Obviously there was more to this situation than she initially thought.

Harry sighed, "Right, and this brings us back to the root of confusion. Why don't you tell us where you're from, Pyrrha? If you can tell us the last thing you remember as well, that would help."

Pyrrha nodded, that was a simple, reasonable request, "Okay. Well, I was born and raised in the Kingdom of Mistral, one of the four Kingdoms. The others are Vale, Vacuo, and Atlas. I trained at the Sanctum Combat School before graduating and transferring to Beacon Academy in Vale. Last I remember, I was nearing the end of my first year there, and was participating in the 40th Vytal Festival with the rest of my team. I think the most recent memory from that I have is being called to Headmaster Ozpin's office. After that, I remember waking up in that alley, and you saving me from the Grimm."

Silence reigned. Both Butters and Harry stared silently at Pyrrha, the former with wide eyes. She fidgeted in place, but remained still otherwise. They wanted answers, and she had given them like they had asked.

Butters coughed and looked at Harry, opening his mouth. Harry silence him with a raised hand, "Yeah, I know. But if she were actually crazy, I don't think we'd be having a civil conversation with her at all.

He looked at Pyrrha, "That said, your explanation just raises more questions. That thing chasing you, what did you say it was called?"

"A Grimm," she answered, "A Beowolf to be more specific. They're fairly common in the forests around Vale."

"Right, Beowolf" Harry muttered, suppressing a snicker, "And what exactly is a Grimm?"

Pyrrha blinked. Sure, she knew now that her personal knowledge was vastly different from what her rescuers knew, but it was still a surprising question. How could anyone, even someone who'd never heard of the Kingdoms, not know what a Grimm was? That would be like not knowing what air was, or water.

"You… really don't know?" Pyrrha asked.

Harry shrugged, "Let's say I know absolutely nothing about Grimm. How would you explain them to me?"

"Hold on," Butters interrupted, focused back on his work. "This might sting a little…"

A sharp pain shot through her calf for a brief moment, then dulled again. Pyrrha winced, but besides that, it was hardly that bad. She'd had worse, anyway. "Continue," Butters waved, setting aside a bit of bloodied stitching.

"Right…" Pyrrha sighed and thought on the best way to explain the Grimm. It wasn't exactly hard.

"The Grimm are…monsters," she started. "No one is sure where they came from, or what exactly it is they want. All that we do know is that they have a burning hatred for humanity, and are drawn to negative emotions. They can come in many shapes and sizes, and in endless numbers. It's only because of people like me and you that humans haven't been wiped out."

Harry raised a brow, "Like us?"

Pyrrha felt a twinge of pride, "Hunters and Huntresses. We are warriors trained by the Academies to neutralize any Grimm threats to the Four Kingdoms. We have a powerful Aura and manifest it through our Semblance, granting us powers and abilities that put us on even footing with them. We have protected the Four Kingdoms for centuries"

Slowly, Harry leaned back, emitting a low whistle, "That's quite the boast kid. An army of super soldiers fighting off hordes of emotion-eating monsters? Sounds like a bad fantasy novel."

Pyrrha smiled sheepishly, "I'll admit, I've thought it ridiculous too, but it is the world we live in. Regardless of how silly it might sound, I still stand with others like me as a bastion against any threats against human-"

A sharp stab of pain in her leg made her jump, "Eep!"

"Sorry!" Butters apologized.

Pyrrha forced another smile, "It's…fine," she hissed through clenched teeth.

Ignoring the exchange, Harry scratched at his scar, "This is all very interesting, Miss Nikos, but… Well I'm not sure if I can believe it. You might, but.."

Her smile twisted into a frown, "Mr. Dresden, I'm not crazy, if that is what you think. My memories are my own, this I know for a fact."

"I don't doubt that you believe that," Harry said softly, "But there isn't really a way to confirm it."

Butters cleared his throat. Both of them looked to the short doctor. "Actually, Harry, there's a few options you're forgetting about

Harry sighed, "There's a few, yeah." and began counting off his fingers, "We already know she seems to have some kind of Talent. When we moved her into the car, I could feel it on contact. This might be that Aura you're talking about, or it might be something entirely different. You could just be absolutely bonkers, always a possibility with practitioners."

Pyrrha folded her arms, and tried to keep her irritation in check, "Mr. Dresden, your concern is of course commendable. But I will also remind you that I was attacked by a Grimm before your very eyes."

"Could have been a Demon," Harry replied casually, "Or an Outsider. Maybe you're a young wizard that got involved in something way out of hand and it drove you mad. No way to be absolutely sure."

Butters spoke up again, "What about a Soulgaze? Isn't that kinda the Wizards be-all-end-all solution?"

Harry scowled, "I can't just go throwing it around willy-nilly, Butters. Besides, that stuff never fades. If I use it on her and she is crazy, then I'm stuck with that for life, not to mention what she Sees of me might not really be kind to her."

"You're saying one crazy girl is worse than the Skinwalker?" Butters asked.

That made Harry flinch, like he'd tasted something spectacularly sour. He drummed his fingers on his legs, "Well...no, that would be silly, wouldn't it?"

"Excuse me," Pyrrha interrupted, keeping her tone firm. She appreciated their help, but she was growing impatient. Harry and Butters looked back to her.

"What is this 'Soulgaze' you're talking about?"

Harry sighed, again, and covered his face, "It will let me see your soul, basically. I'll be able to see how the event of your world have shaped you, get a glimpse of what you could be, or whether you're broken and torn inside."

"So why not use it then?" Pyrrha asked.

"Because the memory never fades, like I just said. If you aren't stable, under someone's influence, or just aren't strong enough, the experience may be more than your mind can take before...shutting down."

Pyrrha tried and failed to scowl. That was a surprisingly good reason for his reluctance. But on the other hand, "Is there any other way you can think of to prove I'm telling the truth? I have no identification on me, I have nothing from my home to prove it to you. Either you accept me at my word, Mr. Dresden, or we do something about this."

Harry hung his head, "Yeah, I know. It's not just that though kid. If we do this, then you'll see my soul too. And the memory will never fade, ever."

The tone of guilt in his voice made Pyrrha hesitate. This was more than just concern for himself, it was shame that he would hurt her in the process as well. She unfolded her arms, and said, "Is there any other option than? Any at all?"

"None that are immediately available," Harry admitted, "The Sight wouldn't show me if you were trustworthy, just your 'true form'. I don't have to like it, but Butters is right, the Soulgaze is our best bet."

Pyrrha nodded, understanding, "Then, I think we should do it. You seem like a decent man, Mr. Dresden. You saved me at the risk of hurting yourself. Someone truly despicable wouldn't have looked twice."

Harry rubbed at his face, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. Then he clapped his hands together, "Right, then let's get this started.

"Okay," Pyrrha agreed, "How do we do this?"

Harry adjusted his chair, and leaned forward a little, "Simple, just look into my eyes for a few seconds. The rest will come naturally."

Pyrrha took a breath, "Okay then," and did as he said.

Harry had deep brown eyes, and they were intense. While Harry was probably in his late thirties, maybe his forties, his eyes were far older. He had the eyes of someone far older than he was. It was tragic and-

* * *

Suddenly, Pyrrha was no longer sitting in the apartment. She stood at a frozen mountain pass, colossal mountains rising to either side of her and converging into a tiny pass just wide enough for a two people to walk through shoulder to shoulder. It was filled with a towering presence that filled most of that space. It took Pyrrha a moment to recognize the man as Harry.

He stood at this pass, feet dug into the ground, his staff clenched tightly in one hand, a sword in the other. Both were covered in a thousand cuts and nicks, their edges tinted white from frost. Heavy ragged brown robes fell from his shoulders, and beneath them she could see the edges of plate mail. It took was dented and damaged, hoarfrost creeping over it. Dried blood marked numerous places where the armor had failed, but Harry still stood defiant. His face looked similar to what she was getting familiar with, but covered in far more scars and fresh cuts.

What was most impressive about the entire setting was how he shouldered them. Most would collapse under the weight of that armor, those injuries, or the cold that was increasing by the second. But Harry seemed oblivious to his injuries, and kept a steady eye on the land spread before him.

The reason lay behind him.

A large natural bowl formed behind him, and inside that bowl was a city. Pyrrha didn't recognize the landmarks, or buildings, but she knew a city when she saw one. Towering skyscrapers nearly as tall as the mountains that surrounded them, grand roads that weaved between buildings and millions of people going about their day. Scattered throughout this city stood statues, larger than any building.

Each was carved into the likeness of a different person. Some were tall and imposing men, others were smaller but equally determined women. Smaller child-like statues were gathered around a small suburban house, protected by two larger statues of a man and women. The female statue was marred with dozens of small cracks and chips. The male statue was covered in pits and cracks, a chunk of its chest missing and one of its legs broken. Several other statues were like that, pocked and pitted with minor or major damage. Several lay in pieces on the ground, time and weather having torn them down.

It was hardly the most subtle symbolism, and Pyrrha picked it up simply enough. Harry was a defender, a protector of what he saw as his city. The statues were friends and family that he was fighting desperately to protect no matter the personal cost to himself. As long as they stood, he would stand. But she knew that his stalwart defense hadn't been enough. There were far too many broken and damaged statues. All his efforts still weren't enough to protect those important to him.

The wind picked up suddenly, and Pyrrha's view went back to Dresden. He was gripping his staff hard, and glaring at the empty land that surrounded his city. Pyrrha peered past him, and saw what had caught his attention. The sky was growing cold and dark, thick thunder headed clouds rolled across the sky. Snow was beginning to fall, and the air took on a harsh biting edge.

Something shook the ground, a thousand somethings. Pyrrha saw them rapidly approaching the mountain pass, and their shapes became visible very quickly. At the forefront of what was a horde of horrors, came large batlike creatures, running on four legs. Their skin was a greasy black spotted with bits of pink flesh. They had long lolling tongues and huge black eyes. They hissed and they snarled in rage at Dresden.

The man calmly raised his staff at the monsters, boomed a set of words that Pyrrha could not understand.

He didn't raise his voice, but the words rung through the air, resonating into Pyrrha's very being. Fire blossomed before him, and those monsters erupted into flame, filling the sky with more inky blackness. The fire eagerly consumed them, reducing the monsters into nothing more than grease spots on the floor.

All it took was a cool breeze to blow the flames away though. Yet more monsters came barreling through what was left of the first line. Huge oversized beasts, smaller human shaped creatures of shadow, others of incalculable beauty, and some with forms that were far too strange and alien. That freezing air blew ahead of them, kicking up dirt and snow, pushing it all towards Harry.

He raised his sword, and a translucent dome of blue energy rose to stop the onslaught of icy wind and dirt. It harmlessly rattled off it in a series of tiny bright lights that exploded at the touch impact. The monsters drew closer, and Harry let his shield drop to raise his staff at them. The runes along its edge ignited in fire, and his eyes blazed with fury.

Once more he spoke, his voice very angry. Once more, she couldn't understand what he said. But she felt the power behind his words.

Pure force lashed out from the end of his staff, tinted a silvery white. It rolled across the field towards the nearest monsters, knocking them aside with contemptuous ease. The rest closed in on him, leaped to rip him apart, and-

* * *

The Soulgaze ended, and Pyrrha was suddenly back in the apartment. She jerked back in surprise and blinked a few times, taking fast breathes to calm herself. Harry leaned back with his eyes clenched and rubbed at his face while Butters looked between the two. He raised his brows inquisitively at the both of them.

"That…" Pyrrha shook her head, "What was that?"

"Soulgaze," Harry mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose, "It's always intense. I warned you."

Intense was an understatement in Pyrrha's opinion. What she saw had been so very real. Even now, back in the apartment, she could feel the cool air biting at her very core. And that battle at the end, she thought for sure she was going to get dragged into it. But no, it was just a… a vision? Yes, that made sense. It would explain why the memory was still so vivid. Pyrrha had a feeling she'd never really forget what she'd seen.

Yet it certainly did tell her something important too. Harry was a good, if stubborn man. She could trust him to the end of the world and never worry about him betraying her or turning his back on her. He was an ally, and knowing that settled her nerves, that she hadn't even realized were so high-strung.

Butters impatiently tapped something on the table supporting Pyrrha's leg and gave Harry a look, "So, what did you see? Is she…you know? Sane?"

Harry released his nose and nodded, "Yeah, she's legit. We can trust her." He looked back at Pyrrha, "I don't exactly know how you got here Pyrrha, or why, I promise I'll help you try and get you home."

"Whoa wait," Butters interrupted before Pyrrha could say a word. She folded her arms and raised a brow at him. Butters didn't see the gesture, "So you're saying that she's…. what? From another world?"

Harry shrugged, "Maybe? If her story is true, it's the only real explanation."

Once those words sank in, Butters slowly fell back in his chair in a daze, "I… I don't believe it. You're saying that… Multiverse Theory is real?"

"Maybe," said Harry, "There's no real way to know for sure, unless we learn more about the situation. Which I intend to do."

"How will you do that?" Pyrrha finally asked while Butters was busy muttering about impossibilities, science, and crazy wizards. Far as she knew, there wasn't any real evidence of how she'd arrived in this… Chicago. What did Harry hope to find?

He flashed her a smile, "I'm a Private Investigator Pyrrha. Unravelling mysteries is what I do. And if I'm going to figure out why you're here, I'll need to investigate the scene of the crime."

Pyrrha stood up, ignoring Butters' protest, and smiled, "Then I would like to come along, Mr. Dresden, to see if I can help."

His smile faded a little, "I'm… not sure if that's a great idea. You really should rest…"

"Yes, but I know more about Grimm than you do. If there was one, there's likely to be more. I'm sorry Mr. Dresden, but I would really appreciate being able to help."

Pyrrha was a tall girl, but Harry was still a head higher than her. She had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes, and with the Soulgaze done, Harry didn't avert them. Instead, he stared at her for a minute, then let out an irritated sigh.

"Fine, fine," he flung a hand in the air, "You can tag along kiddo, as long as you don't get in my way. But we need to do something first."

"What's that?" Pyrrha asked.

He pointed at her short shorts, "We need to get you some pants."

* * *

 **A/N: Right on schedule! I was rather excited to get this chapter out today, and don't worry, chapter 2 is in the works right now.**

 **Now then, onto plot-stuff. There's a lot of little details relating to Pyrrha and what state she's in right now. We'll see more of them in the future as the plot unfolds, but if you have questions on it, feel free to ask. Now, why did Harry so readily agree with Pyrrha? Soulgaze. Obviously. Which brings us to that scene. In the books, we've never seen what the other party sees when Harry does a Soulgaze. All we know for sure is that it tends to be impressive and leaves people either in awe or with some level of respect for him. I'm not sure if I did it justice, but there were about four or five drafts of that scene, and this was the one that was the least shit.**

 **One heads up for my readers though. As much as I'd love to be able to pull off some RWBY style action in the future, the limitations of the written media make that rather difficult to pull off. This story will be following more of a Dresden Files path. Plot and character events, interspiced with moments of pure undiluted awesome. I can't promise a fight scene every chapter, but I can promise I'll try my damndest to make them fast and fun.**

 **Thats all for now though, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you all on Saturday, where Pyrrha gets to drill Harry on a few questions, finally meets Murphy, and the plot begins to thicken. Ta-ta!**

 **P.S. For those wondering, this story takes place post Skin Games, so spoilers for anyone who hasn't read that book and plans on reading it.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Butters finished Pyrrha's check-up and departed shortly after Harry had established their next move. The short man deemed Pyrrha's leg healed, if weak from the injury, and left a bottle of over-the-counter painkillers with Harry in case something came up. He also gave Harry a firm reminder to not let her stress it. Even if it was scar damage, there had been plenty of muscle damage, and it could take an indeterminate amount of time for it to completely recover.

"Thank you Doctor," Pyrrha said, giving the most patient smile she could. "I will be as careful as I can."

Butters grunted, "Hmph, make sure you are. I've got enough trouble with Harry tearing himself up all the time, I'd rather not add you to the list of unofficial patients."

Harry rolled his eyes, "I think she's got it Butters."

The little man puffed out his chest in indignation for a moment, then sighed and began packing up his medical equipment, "Right, right. Sorry. Good luck Ms. Nikos."

He zipped the bag shut, swung it over his shoulder, and gave them both a level nod. Then he left, taking that weird skull with him. Pyrrha made a mental note to ask Harry what the deal was behind that later. There were other items higher on her priority list for the moment.

"So, you hungry, kid?" Harry asked.

That would be one of them.

Pyrrha opened her mouth, and her stomach answered for her. A warbling groan from her midsection that managed to reverberate across the apartments admittedly cavernous walls. She flushed red and nodded, "That sounds lovely. Thank you."

Harry shrugged and meandered to the kitchen bar, "I'm no chef, but I do have food. Why don't you make yourself at home while I scramble something together? Until we figure out a way to get you home, my apartment is open to you."

Her smile returned, "I don't think I can thank you enough Mr. Dresden. You really are too kind."

That got her a grunt of reply from Harry. "Yeah, that's me, picture of kindness. Just, leave the desk and book case alone. Delicate items, I'd rather you not mess with them."

Pyrrha glanced at the desk nestled into the wall. Now that she had a full view of it, she realized that it wasn't as neat and orderly as she thought. The books in the shelves above were neatly stacked, but not in any particular order. Bottles, boxes, and baubles of varying shape and size were stacked around the desk on small plastic shelves, ordered into sections of their own personal chaos. Several notebooks lay open on the desk and a carved wooden skull rested in the center of it all. Two little white roses rested on either side of it, just starting to wilt.

"Hmm," Pyrrha hummed, "That's your equipment, right? You're the equivalent of a Hunter?"

Harry chuckled, "Well, some might say that, but it's not quite accurate. I'm a Private Investigator, who happens to also be a professional Wizard of the White Council." Something on the makeshift stove sizzled and popped. The smell of eggs followed a moment later, and Pyrrha's stomach rumbled again.

She ignored it, and glanced back at Harry, "Wait, a Wizard? As in, a magician? Someone who can use things like magic?"

Harry snapped his fingers, "Bingo!" A tiny flame of fire lit on the end of his finger without burning it. He smirked and shook his hand, extinguishing it.

When he looked back up, he jumped back in surprise. Pyrrha was sitting at the bar, a small but eager smile on her face, and a fresh notebook in her hands. Harry looked from her to the middle of the living room where she'd been standing. He'd looked away for maybe half a second! Pyrrha just smiled her polite smile at him, oblivious to his confusion.

"…Where'd you get the notebook?" Harry finally asked.

She glanced at the pages, "I borrowed it, you had extras. I'm sorry, was that rude?"

It wasn't everyday someone took such an interest in magic. The last person Harry could honestly think of that had been this eager was his former apprentice, Molly. But those days were long since passed.

"I'm not sure what you're expecting me to tell you kiddo." He finally admitted. "I know you don't have the gift, it'd just be trivia to you."

Pyrrha quirked her lips, "I think I'd disagree on that. If what you're saying is true and magic is real here, then wouldn't it be better for me to understand it so I can be prepared for it in case we run into something nasty?"

He gave her a cautious glance, "What makes you think we would?"

"Past experience," Pyrrha shrugged.

Harry grunted and scratched the back of his head, "Right, guess I can't argue with that. But I can't just tell you everything. The White Council doesn't exactly like big magical secrets being spread around to vanilla mortals, and I don't have what most people would call a 'healthy' or 'safe' relationship with them right now either."

"Then let's keep it simple?" she suggested.

The eggs sizzled on the pan, and Harry raised one brow at her. Pyrrha politely smiled at him in response. "Uh huh," he finally said. "Pyrrha, I get the curiosity, trust me it's the not the first time I've dealt with it. But right now the priority is figuring out why you are here."

Her smile faded a little as Harry spoke, "So, I'll ask the questions first, okay? Once I think I have a decent picture of the situation, I'll tell you all you want to know. Within reason."

The faint slump was obvious to Harry, but Pyrrha tried to hide it anyway, "Alright. You do have a point."

Personally, she'd rather have something to take her mind off the harsh truth. That she was a long way from home, in a world completely unlike her own, with no idea how or why she was there or how to get back. It was a problem she had never had to deal with before, and a small part of her didn't want to deal with it.

Harry did make a good point though, they needed to find out why she was there, even if the answer wasn't one she would like. Just because she didn't want to do something, didn't mean she could deny the responsibility. As a Huntress it was her duty to put the health and well-being of others above her own, and anything less was inexcusable.

' _Just answer his questions,'_ she thought, _'Then you can move on. Bite the bullet Pyrrha.'_

She took a deep breath and sighed, "So, what do you want to know?"

Harry kept cooking as promised, but his questions came out short, precise, and quick. Obviously he had a lot of experience with this kind of thing. "Let's start with the basic. Last thing you remember before you woke up in that alley. Be specific on the details, anything you remember could help."

"Didn't I answer that question already?" she asked dryly.

The look she got made her do a 180 on that stance, and she went ramrod stiff, "Right, sorry!"

All she got was a sigh in response, which she took as the go ahead to tell him what she remembered. Pyrrha thought back to the last thing she could remember before she woke in that alley. Details were very important like Harry said, so she focused on that.

"Well, like I said, the very last thing I remember is being called up to Headmaster Ozpins office. Before that, my team and I had taken place in the Vytal festival and were part of the tournament. Its bi-annual, and we had just finished our first match. Afterwards, we went out celebrating before I received a message on my scroll that the Headmaster wanted to see me. From there, it's a blur."

Harry frowned, "A scroll?"

"Portable communication device," Pyrrha explained, "Do you not have those here?"

"We do," Harry said, "Though people call them Cell Phones. I think. Don't know, don't own one. You're sure that's all you remember? What about this team you faced in the tournament?"

Pyrrha frowned, "I can't remember their names, it feels like it was so long ago, but… I don't think they'd try something like this, even if it was possible."

Travel between alternate worlds was something a bit out of the realm of possibility for even the mightiest of Hunters of Huntresses, least as far as Pyrrha knew. Harry though, seemed unconvinced, "None of them could've used that… Aura thingy you mentioned? I know some people who don't take losing real well."

Pyrrha shook her head, "No, no, they were good sports about it in the end, I promise. Plus, an Aura can't do something like that. It's a projection of one's soul, and its used to protect Huntresses from physical harm while boosting our speed and strength. Without it, we'd be as strong as the average human and couldn't use our Semblance."

Another raised brow. Pyrrha sighed, "A Semblance is an ability every Huntress possesses, the manifestation of their Aura. Some can move faster than the eye can follow, one of my teammates can absorb electricity, and a friend of mine gets stronger the more someone tries to hurt her."

Harry rubbed his chin, and moved the eggs off the stove, "I see. And you?"

A simple thought, and raised hand sent a kitchen fork lying on the counter next to Harry flying into her hand with a soft _'thwap!'_ of impact.

"Polarity." Pyrrha smiled, "I can manipulate metal and steel."

Harry quirked his lips, "Huh, a girly Magneto. Neat."

"Who?"

"Stupid reference," Harry said off hand, "On topic, you're saying that these Semblances tend to be physical or combat oriented?"

"Far as I know, yes."

Harry muttered under his breath, "Guess that eliminates the revenge theory for now. One more question, then you need to eat."

Pyrrha's stomach grumbled again in agreement. She blushed and ducked her head, "Er, yes. What is it?"

"Do you think that whatever happened to you was caused by your Headmaster?" asked Harry.

Pyrrha opened her mouth to respond, and froze. Harry frowned, "Pyrrha, you okay?"

She didn't hear him. Her skull was pounding, pulsing with electricity. It hurt, scorching the nerves of her brain with searing fire. A hammer blow seemingly knocked across the back of her skull and Pyrrha fell forward, barely stopping herself from hitting her head on the bar. Harry rushed around to help her, saying something.

Images flashed in her mind, a dozen memories that she saw for a moment, then lost in that same instant. Something had happened after she met Ozpin, something bad. She couldn't remember what though, and trying to remember, it hurt. It hurt so much.

Pyrrha clenched her eyes tight and felt tears at their corners. A small part of her realized she was crying. The rest started to scream. More memories, more pain, so much pain. But she couldn't pinpoint any of it, all she knew was that it was wrong, and that it hurt. Well, no, that was a lie. There was one thing she remembered, that much was true. She reached out and grabbed onto that one memory, that one vital memory of what might've happened to her. She didn't know what it meant, but it was important. In a sea of pain that thrashed at her, tore at her, wanted nothing more than to drown her in its bitter agony, it was a life raft that kept her from drowning.

And as quick as it came, the pain was gone.

Pyrrha realized she was crying. Gut wrenching, stinging sobs. Tears streaked down her face in rivers. She gasped for air and opened her eyes through the tears. The kitchen was dark now, someone had turned out the lights. Pyrrha let out another sob and tried to cover her face with her hands. It was then she realized that an iron grip was on either wrist, keeping them from thrashing about.

Harry had her held in place, his strength something far greater than even someone his size should've been able to produce. But hold her he did, until the great heaving sobs finally died into more manageable weeping. Once he was sure she wouldn't hurt herself, Harry let Pyrrha go with exaggerated care.

She immediately buried her head in her arms and started crying again. Her scarlet hair was everywhere now, a total mess. Harry was at least kind enough to pull it away from her face, and he sat on the nearest stool next to her, keeping a comforting hand on her shoulder. Pyrrha didn't do anything, just kept crying until finally, the tears just wouldn't come. She didn't feel any better.

Just stable.

Barely.

"How you feeling?" Harry finally asked after an eternity of silence.

Pyrrha felt humiliated. While she wouldn't call herself a prideful girl, and her recent situation certainly hadn't been a cause for her to feel very prideful, Pyrrha was a warrior. With that came an image she was supposed to uphold for others, an ideal for them to strive towards. Ever since her fame had started to rise, her mother had reminded her to always maintain composure, because those around her would always be watching and judging.

So she had, and in the first hour of meeting a potential ally, she had a mental breakdown from a simple question. Humiliated was the only word that adequately described how she felt for the moment. Harry, apparently, realized this.

"Hey, hey," he gave a gentle pat on the back and carefully tilted her head up.

She was a mess, big puffy red eyes, tear stained face, and a nose full of snot. Actual full on sobbing was never pretty for most people. A handful of people on the planet might be able to pull it off but Pyrrha was not a pretty crier. To be fair, Harry probably wasn't either, but he was much too manly to ever cry. Totally too manly to cry.

"It's alright," Harry softly said. He used a paper towel to wipe her tears away, and brushed her hair out of her face. "Just take a deep breath alright?"

Pyrrha sniffled and did as he said. One breath in, one breath out. One breath in, one breath out. It was no cure, but it made her feel… Well certainly not better, but a little more capable.

Harry smiled, a genuine one unlike his usual sarcastic grins. "See? Feeling any better?" Pyrrha murmured something and he leaned down, "Sorry, could you say that again?"

"…Do you believe in Destiny?"

He blinked, "Pardon?"

Another sniffle, and Harry handed her a fresh paper towel. "Thank you," she murmured, and blew her nose. "Do you believe in Destiny? When I… when you asked me if I remembered, all these memories came pouring in. I couldn't hold onto any of them… Except that."

A few more tears spilled from her eyes, "I don't know why, but… It hurts, just to say it."

It was true. A gnarled and twisted knot had formed in the center of her sternum, right below her neck. It burned with intensity every time she thought of the phrase, but she had no idea why.

Harry's smile faded away into something more serious. It wasn't a mean expression, just very… Solid. "Pyrrha," he started, "I want you to listen to me, and listen closely, okay?"

She nodded her confirmation, but remained silent. Harry continued, "The way I used to see it, we as people have two paths when it comes to that question. Either you think you have a grand destiny, or you don't. But I see a third option now. You can either worry about whatever it is your destiny is, or you can move on with your life and forge your own destiny."

Pyrrha looked confused. That seemed the same as the second option. Harry raised a hand, "Let me explain. I know that someday I will die. It happens to everyone. Me, you, our friends. It's a sad fact of life, but it's a fact. But that trip there, what you'll do and change along the way is entirely up to you. Sure, there might be some railroading along the way, but there is nothing stopping you from creating the destiny you want. Understand now? Destiny isn't some predefined objective you are striving towards. It's _your_ end goal."

He sighed, "Long winded speech short, I believe in my own destiny, not the destiny others tell me. If I did, I'd have died a long time ago. Make sense?"

A few new tears formed in Pyrrha's eyes, but they were happier tears, tears of relief. While thinking that phrase brought her pain still, what Harry said made a lot of sense. She wasn't some pupped to be hung about on strings for someone else's amusement. No, she was a person with her own feelings, thoughts and goals. Whatever her destiny was, she would forge it herself.

Harry wasn't prepared for the tight hug Pyrrha gave him. A few ribs might have popped, but he'd had worse. Besides, judging by the pain versus tears quota, it seemed like Pyrrha was long over-due for a hug. Harry returned it, letting her borrow some comfort from him.

She finally looked up at him after a minute of crushing his ribs, eyes a little clearer, "Thank you, Mr. Dresden. Really."

"Ah, its nothing," Harry said dismissively, "Though just call me Harry. The whole Mr. Dresden thing is starting to sound weird."

Pyrrha blinked then nodded, her lips twitching. The Soulgaze wasn't wrong, Harry was a good man. And one willing to weather a storm it seemed…

Because when Pyrrha glanced around, she saw why the lights had gone out. They had been those fancy recessed lamps made of steel that looked really classy in the right conditions. Had being the key word there. In her fit, Pyrrha's Semblance had flattened every light in the kitchen. It had also knocked drawers out of their cupboards, nearly knocked the oven over, and ruined the eggs. A dozen knives and forks were embedded in the ceiling and walls, and one knife hung loosely from his shirt. The only thing that kept that sight from causing a panic attack was the fact that there was no blood.

"Oh my…" she said softly.

"Bah, it's no big deal," Harry assured her, "Minor damages, my landlord should understand."

Pyrrha started to hang her head again, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

Harry stopped her, "Ah, no more of that. We've had one crying fit today, I'd rather not make it two."

That made her smile a little and-

A low groan echoed through the kitchen. Pyrrha blinked, "Um, what was that?"

Harry glanced down, "That, would be the metal bar stool you crushed finally giving way under our combined weight."

"…Oh…"

"Yeah."

There was a snap like a breaking twig, and the two went tumbling to the floor. Harry landed on the floor splayed, and Pyrrha landed on top of him. He made an 'oof!' noise from the impact. Pyrrha blinked stars from her eyes and pushed herself up.

"Hehe, sorry about that."

Harry laid there and grumbled, "Don't worry about it. Shaping up to be one of those days anyway…"

On cue, the handle to the apartment's entrance jiggled and turned, opening the door a moment later. The creek it made lasted a subjective eternity for the two before it finally swung open all the way to reveal…

A short woman, no more than five feet tall, with bright blue eyes, and short blonde hair that came down to her jawline in an even sheet. She had an adorable button nose and laugh lines that looked recent. She was dressed in a dark blue shirt, jeans, and wore a sports jacket that read 'Chicago Cubs' on the side. This woman walked in, carrying two bags worth of clothes, and just stopped in place.

Pyrrha blinked once, looking at her. Harry followed her gaze, saw the woman, and froze stiff. The awkward silence was as thick as snow, until the woman spoke, in a deceptively calm voice, "Harry, you have exactly ten seconds to explain."

That got the big man moving, "K-Karrin, it's not what it looks like, I swear to God it's not what it looks like!"

The woman, Karrin, raised a blonde brow at him, then glanced at Pyrrha again. Her face was an unreadable mask. That was, until the giant grin spread across her face.

"Well then, you better start explaining then, shouldn't you?"

* * *

Pyrrha finished her shower and began the long and tedious process of brushing her hair straight. There had to be some reason she had decided to grow it this long, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember what it was. At this point, she had gone too far to really go back now. So she sat on the edge of the bathroom sink, brushing her scarlet hair until it shone.

She took the time to reflect on the events that had unfolded after Karrin Murphy (Murphy, as the woman insisted she call her) had arrived at the apartment. To everyone's relief, Murphy had not tried to kill Pyrrha on the spot, and instead had let her and Harry disentangle themselves. Murphy had, apparently, gone out to buy some proper clothes for Pyrrha while she had slept, for obvious reasons. The short woman handed the bags off to Pyrrha after introductions were made, and let her shower, while Harry agreed to explain the situation to Murphy in the interlude.

Pyrrha hoped that she hadn't gotten Harry into too much trouble with that accident. It was obvious that he and Ms. Murphy were an item, and Pyrrha would never want to get in the way of anyone's relationship. She personally knew how that felt.

She let out a sigh and pulled her hair back. Thinking about her home wasn't going to get her there, as much as she wanted it to. Action was required, and as her friends often said, Pyrrha was a girl of action.

A selection of hair ties lay on the counter, courtesy of Murphy, and Pyrrha used one to hold her hair in place. Her bangs fell forward again, framing her face, but that was normal. The girl in the mirror smiled at her, but Pyrrha knew it was fake. She was in a strange world with no memory of how she got there, and without anything familiar to hold onto. Even her hairstyle looked alien without her tiara to neatly hold it in place.

' _But,'_ she thought, _'I'm not entirely alone. I do have at least one ally in this world. That's certainly better than the alternative.'_

Dresden's words echoed in her mind again, and she felt happier just thinking about them. No one would keep her from getting home, not even herself. Without a shadow of a doubt, Pyrrha knew that was her destiny, to return home to her friends and defend the Four Kingdoms from the Grimm. That was her destiny, and no one, not Grimm, not White Fang, not even her own morbid sense of negativity would stop her.

"A lack of pants will though." Pyrrha giggled a little, and decided to check out what Murphy had gotten for her. It was only two pairs to choose from, Murphy hadn't known if Pyrrha had a home where she could change, but they were surprisingly thematic nonetheless. Murphy had good taste.

Pyrrha settled for something simple, given the type of clothing she'd seen from this world, and chose a long sleeved red blouse, a black skirt that stopped mid-thigh, and a pair of black stockings. Pyrrha missed her boots, but settled for red slip-on's that Murphy had chosen for her. Sneakers were never her style anyway.

"I suppose that will have to do," Pyrrha said to herself. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her new outfit, and exited the bathroom.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head to hard?" Murphy asked Harry. Pyrrha stopped in front of the door and smiled a little. Odds were good that he'd finished his bit of exposition, and like Butters, Murphy didn't believe it.

They had both migrated back to the fireplace, and Murphy wore an expression that, to a more cynical mind, could only be described as 'extreme skepticism'. Harry took it in stride. "She's legit Karrin. Plus you saw the kitchen, at the very least there's some truth to what she says. Only way to really confirm it though, is to head into that alley where we found her."

"Speaking of," Pyrrha interjected, "I'm ready to leave when you are Mister- I mean Harry."

They looked back at her and Harry blinked, "Huh. I didn't think you even knew what a skirt was Karrin."

Murphy crossed her arms and gave Harry a steady look, "What does she mean Harry? Please tell me you didn't offer to let her tag-along."

"Well, I…"

"I convinced him," Pyrrha said quickly, before Harry started to dig his own grave.

Murphy looked back at her, then at Harry, "That doesn't surprise me, you always were a sucker for a pretty face Dresden."

Harry sighed and stood up, "Yeah yeah, I'm a total pushover. Either way, Pyrrha is going to tag along,"

"Harry, don't be stupid. She's just a kid, and regardless of what she says, we can't just let her 'tag-along'. This could be dangerous."

"Then why not lend me a weapon?" Pyrrha interrupted, again. Harry and Murphy both stopped, and looked at Pyrrha. During their argument, she'd walked up between them in case things got heated. Neither had even noticed her until she'd spoke up.

Murphy frowned, "You're kidding, right? We can't just give an unlicensed minor a weapon."

Pyrrha frowned, "That hardly seems fair, given the circumstances."

"And neither would bringing you into a potentially dangerous situation." Murphy said. "Hell, you're lucky to be walking around at all."

"I am perfectly fine Miss Murphy, honest," Pyrrha insisted. She could understand why Murphy was so reluctant, after all, she didn't know what Pyrrha could do. But even so, this was getting ridiculous.

"Do you even know how to handle a gun?" Murphy asked.

"Yes," Pyrrha said, "Since I was just a child. Everyone I know can use a gun."

"Well-" Murphy began, ready to argue some more.

Harry interrupted that thought process though. "Enough!"

They both fell silent, though Pyrrha felt she was being rather unfairly treated by this whole situation. Harry rubbed at his eyes for a moment, obviously tired. Then, he gave Murphy a fixed look, "It's just a quick trip to the alleyway, see if anything suspicious is afoot. If things go sideways, we can defend her if we need to. Otherwise though, I don't see the harm in letting Pyrrha tag along."

And that was the end of that.

Pyrrha was never sure exactly what part of that sentence convinced Murphy to let her come along, but the woman sighed and marched off to the door. "Fine, fine. If you're ready, then I'm ready."

Harry gathered his duster, staff, and the rod (he called it a blasting rod). Murphy grabbed her jacket, and Pyrrha just waited on three of them left Harry's apartment behind. Murphy insisted they used her car instead of Harry's on account of it being completely wrecked right now, and lead them to a much sleeker looking vehicle in comparison to the bulbous bug that Harry drove. It was a bright white four door coup, and looked new. When Pyrrha got into the back, the new car smell still lingered.

"I will never understand why you chose to buy another Beetle," Murphy said to Harry once everyone was settled in.

Harry set his staff on the console between their seats and sighed, "You wouldn't get it Murphy. The old Blue Beetle may be gone for good, but I don't see anything wrong with a little nostalgia."

"I bet those old man knees of yours disagree," Murphy replied. There was humor in her voice though, and Harry chuckled. "You know you love it."

"Do I?" Murphy tapped her lip. "I guess I do."

Oh yeah. Definitely a couple.

* * *

Pyrrha stared out the window as Murphy drove them through the streets of Chicago. Last night's thunderstorm had left the city soaked, and the thick cloud cover overhead made sure it hadn't evaporated yet.

One thing Pyrrha noticed immediately once they started driving, was that the city was big. Very big. Vale had been fairly large for a human settlement, which weren't exactly common back home. Large scale cities had a habit of naturally generating negativity that could attract Grimm. It was why the Mountain Glenn project, an attempt to expand the cities borders, had ended so poorly.

Chicago clearly didn't have that problem. The skyscrapers were colossal things, stretching so high that Pyrrha could see them start to curve. Thousands of bustling people crowded the sidewalks and streets, each going about their day. Vale could have moments like that too, and it certainly had its share of skyscrapers, but the difference was in numbers. Vale had a few towers downtown, while Chicago was packed with them. There had to be more people living in the city than all of Vale combined.

This was a world where the Grimm didn't exist. A world without constant fear, a constant never changing threat. Chicago was an example of what Remnant would be in true peace. A peace that might never come.

It was an unspoken truth among… well, everyone. The Grimm were a force of nature, like a hurricane or earthquake. Sure, you could build walls, shore your defenses, and prepare for the next tragedy to strike, but you could never end them. No matter what they did, at best they could limit the damage the Grimm inflicted on them, and at worse, survive a tragedy.

That had to be it, didn't it? Something had happened back at Vale, something bad. That would explain how she'd wound up in Chicago, or at the very least, provide a plausible motivation for whoever sent her there. Pyrrha's stomach twirled and she felt queasy. If someone had sent her away, what did they plan on doing? Every Huntress pulled from the front lines was another chink in the carefully constructed defenses of Vale.

What tragedy had struck her home? Pyrrha twitched, and looked away from the window. "How much longer?"

"I'm looking for a place to park," Murphy responded.

Harry grabbed his staff as they came to a stop by a familiar location. The scuffle from the previous night had left its mark. Claw marks several inches deep had been dug into the surrounding asphalt, and a pair of dark skid marks were clear on the street, along with a chunk of steel about a foot in diameter.

A small construction crew was parked across the street from them, scratching their heads at the damage. The answer obviously wouldn't occur to them, and Pyrrha was rather reluctant to tell them. To her surprise though, most civilians were simply ignoring the damage to the road, as if it were a common occurrence!

"Get used to it kid," Harry said. "People in general tend to ignore things that don't fit into their daily lives. A little road damage won't catch their eye."

Pyrrha frowned, "That does not seem right."

Harry opened his door, "It's not. It's a coping mechanism."

He stood up and opened Pyrrha's door for her. That made her smile a little, and she joined him and Murphy around the car. They were quite the odd group, a near seven foot tall man dressed in a leather duster with an equally tall, intricately carved staff, a six foot tall red head dressed for what looked like her first business meeting, and the five nothing blonde woman in a Chicago Cubs sport jacket. Subtlety was not their strongest suite.

Murphy popped open the trunk, and Pyrrha's eyes widened in surprise. Several black duffel bags were packed tightly away inside. Pyrrha's semblance told her that there was enough firepower in the trunk of that car to service a small army.

Murphy glance at Harry, "So, what do you think? Bring the duffel bag, or leave it?"

The wizard looked from the trunk, to his staff, to Murphy. "How's your arm?"

Murphy scowled at Harry, the most venomous look Pyrrha had seen on the woman's face. "Harry. Duffel bag or no?"

Harry was unphased by the look Murphy gave him, and tapped his staff lightly against her leg. "Murphy, you just finished physical therapy. How is your arm?"

She didn't lose the glare. She simply lifted her left arm to chest height. Most people would've missed the wince of pain that showed on her face. Pyrrha didn't, and neither did Harry.

He said, "Just keep the piece you already have on you, we should be gone before trouble finds us," and closed the trunk.

"Damn it Dresden, I hate it when you try to baby me like this."

Harry strode past her, "Come on, we're wasting daylight."

Pyrrha stood there awkwardly for a split second. Murphy looked at her with that venomous scowl… And Pyrrha decided to follow Harry. Obviously this was a rather hot topic for the couple, and Pyrrha would rather not get dragged into it.

Pyrrha managed to catch up to Harry right as he reached the edge of the alley. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder at her. "Looks different in the day, doesn't it?"

It was true. Pyrrha had barely seen the alley when she woke up in it. Sure, she'd had an idea of what was in it, but there was so little light that the details were hard to make out. But even in the cloud covered light of Chicago, she could make out quite a few subtler details.

For one, the alley was curved towards the middle, leaving a shallow cavity in the asphalt that stretched from the far wall to the exit. Graffiti covered the walls, of course, and it was as soaked there as anywhere else. Pyrrha also noted that the stench had grown worse. Stealing that tarp for her makeshift dress had left the garbage exposed to the elements and it did not create a pleasant smell.

Yet even though it was the middle of the day, Pyrrha still very much remembered what had happened here. That feeling of helplessness, the terror and weakness she had felt were not pleasant memories.

Pyrrha shuddered and ducked her head, "Different, but still the same."

Harry noticed her reaction. "Want to stay out here instead? I can find what we need on my own."

"No, no, I'll be fine." Pyrrha said.

"Good, then let's go." Said Murphy. The short woman had caught up to them, and while the venom in her eyes had died down, her tone was definitely not a patient one.

Harry grunted, and they entered the alleyway. Harry went straight to the back of the alley, eyes to the ground and steps slow. Murphy moved her head from side to side, slowly, and said nothing. Pyrrha made sure to watch for puddles, and approached the spot she'd woken up in. It wasn't hard to find.

The ground had been stained a rusty orange from her injury, and the rain had not washed all of it away. In fact, Pyrrha could see a small trail of the substance leading all the way up to the dumpster, where it had pooled again. She shuddered at how close she'd come to bleeding out. If Harry and Butters hadn't come across her, well…

Pyrrha knelt by the first pool of blood and frowned. "Harry, I think I found something."

The big man appeared quickly and leaned over her. Pyrrha pointed to a perfect ring of marred asphalt. Something hot had appeared on it, scorching it to the point of melting. Harry rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Something glimmering in the pale sunlight caught Pyrrha's eyes. She focused on it, and held back a gasp.

"What, what is it?" Harry asked, concern rising in his voice.

"Nothing that I think can help us," Pyrrha admitted, and reached for the object. "But it's something from home."

She showed it to Harry, and he raised a brow, "Is that… a tiara?"

Its bronze surface was soot stained, and covered in watermarks, but the leaf pattern and green gem was unharmed. Even the small chains were intact. Pyrrha smiled faintly and rubbed some of the soot off the bronze.

"It is. It was part of my armor back in Vale. I didn't think anything had come with me when I woke up here."

Being wrong felt nice, for once.

"I see," Harry said. He grunted and straightened up, "Well then, stand back for a minute Pyrrha. I've got a trick up my sleeve that should let me see if any supernatural tampering went on here."

She stood up and took a step back, "What kind of trick is that?"

"Complicated to explain," Harry said, "But in basic terms, it's a Sight that'll let me see things how they really are. If there were forces of magic at work here, I should be able to see it. I'd just prefer not having anything else get in the way."

"Oh!" Pyrrha took another step back, "I'm sorry. By all means, please!"

Harry smirked and closed his eyes for a brief moment. When he opened them, his eyes had changed. His pupils had dilated until his irises were but a thin ring of brown around them. The effect was unnerving, and entrancing. Pyrrha quickly looked away, because she was sure if she hadn't, she'd never be able to.

"He doing the Sight thing?" Murphy asked. The woman was very good at appearing silently by someone's side.

Pyrrha nodded, "Does he do that often?"

"Every so often a case comes up with too few leads. That Sight of his has saved a few lives in the long run."

"Impressive," Pyrrha murmured.

Harry frowned as he stared rather intently at the melted asphalt. "This explains a lot, and raises so many more questions."

"What is it?" Murphy asked.

Before Harry could answer, the ground beneath their feet promptly exploded into a shower of gravel. Pyrrha and Murphy were knocked against the dumpster, and Harry crashed against the wall. Smoke filled the air, and a high pitched screech filled the air. Pyrrha's eyes shot opened, and she started struggling to her feet.

Several black shapes emerged from the smoke, each about the size of a large dog. They were Theropods, two legged creatures with torsos parallel with the ground. They had no arms, and large mashing maws filled with dagger like fangs. A hide of pebbly white bone covered their backs and legs, and their skulls were visible, and glistened with a red streaks.

Creeps, the most basic of Grimm. A few days ago, they'd hardly be a threat to Pyrrha. But now she had no weapons, no armor, and two other people without her skill or experience with the Grimm. Well, except for Harry, he seemed to have the power to handle a Grimm just fine.

The big wizard pulled himself up, using his staff to keep himself steady as he rose. Once he was on his feet, he glared at the Grimm through narrowed eyes. They shot open wide, and rolled into the back of his skull. Harry convulsed once, and fell flat on his back. He didn't move.

"Harry!" Murphy was back on her feet, a small semi-automatic pistol in her hands and focused on the Creeps. Her eyes were wide with shock, but if she was scared of the creatures hissing and snarling at her, she did an excellent job at hiding it.

Harry mumbled incoherently, and didn't move. Murphy cursed her luck. "These those Grimm he mentioned Ms. Nikos?"

No answer.

Murphy blinked and looked at where Pyrrha had been standing a moment ago. The young woman had simply vanished from sight, not a hair in sight.

"You bitch!"

She knew that the story Harry told her was just that, a story! All that talk about being some sort of Hunter or other such bullshit was a load of crap. She just fluttered her pretty eyes at Harry a few times, and he bought the story hook, line, and sinker. And now he and her were going to pay for it.

Murphy aimed down the sight of her pistol at the Grimm nearest to Harry. If she kept their attention off him at least, he might live long enough to get to his sense and run. Then he could teach Pyrrha a lesson for what she'd done.

"Sorry Dresden." Murphy murmured, and pulled the trigger.

"Excuse me!" Pyrrha's voice rang.

The Creeps swiveled towards the alley exit. Murphy mirrored them, and blinked in surprise. Pyrrha stood with one of the duffel bag's swung over her shoulder. That tiara she found had been wiped clean of soot and rested comfortably on her head. And in her hands, was a standard issue Remington 870 pump-action shotgun. She held it with the air of a woman who had spent most of her life at the range.

Pyrrha shouldered the gun and scowled at the Grimm, silently. The Creeps hissed and screeched at Pyrrha, but seemed almost reluctant to charge. Murphy stood there, flabbergasted, but never once let her sight on the creatures waver. It was a Mexican stand-off, monsters in one corner, humans in the other. All it would take was a single strike to light this powder keg.

Something Murphy was all too happy to do. She steadied her bead on the nearest Grimm, and hammered the trigger.

And all Hell broke loose.

* * *

 **A/N: An apology for being a few hours late. I wanted to have this chapter done by noon, but a healthy dose of writers block and the fact that this chapter wound up being twice as long as I'd planned kinda put the kibash on that. I'm happy and upset with how parts of this chapter turned out, but I'd like to hear from you all on what you think.**

 **And come Tuesday, we'll see the first real action scene as Pyrrha shows the Dresdenverse exactly what she's capable of. We'll get some full on RWBY style action, followed by some Dresden style intrigue and grey morality. What does that imply? I'll never tell!**

 **As an aside, thank you to those that have reviewed or followed/favorited in the past few days, it means a lot to get to this level guys, and we've almost hit 500 views! I don't normally get excited on these things, but its so cool seeing any feedback on a story that contains elements I'm really not used to. So please, leave your feedback, tell me what you liked and disliked, what I could improve on. Or, leave a question instead. I'll happily answer any questions you have in the next Author's Note.**

 **Otherwise, Ta-ta for now!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Pyrrha dropped to her knees and fired at the nearest Grimm. The beast's skull exploded into a puddle of black sludge, and it crashed on its side where it twitched once, then died. The shock and kick of the shotgun surprised her, but Pyrrha had experience with far more powerful weapons. She adjusted quickly, pumped the shotgun, and ducked under the next Creep.

It crashed to the ground behind her, claws scraping against asphalt and beak snapping in a series of hollow clopping sounds. Pyrrha ignored it and looked up at the third Creep. This one had been smarter than the others, and let its more headstrong fellows charge her first. It shrieked a challenge at Pyrrha, and bolted across the ground. In three short strides, it launched itself at her.

Pyrrha calmly planted the butte of the shotgun in the ground, holding the weapon at an even angle, and pulled the trigger. The buckshot tore into the Grimm, rending shadowy flesh and bone. It flew back across the alley and fell into the hole it had emerged from.

Without even looking, Pyrrha stood up, grabbed the shotgun by the end of its barrel, and twisted on her heel. The weapon made a decent bludgeoning device, and effectively shattered the skull of the remaining Creep. Its limp body sailed through the air, and splattered against the wall. Its remains fell from the brick façade in a slurping sound, puddling into the ground.

Pyrrha paid the beast no mind, pumped the shotgun, and marched to the Creep Murphy had shot. It was a good shot, landing right behind the back of its skull. The creature lay on the ground thrashing and hissing in furious rage. Pyrrha planted her foot on its neck, pinning the creature to the ground.

Its beady red eye glared at Pyrrha with familiar malevolence. Even wounded and at her mercy, there was no disguising the sheer hatred that radiated from the Grimm. It struggled in vain to free itself from her foot, and snapped its oversized jaws uselessly in the air. Pyrrha jammed the shotgun against its skull, and fired once. The Grimm stopped struggling.

"Holy shit."

Pyrrha pumped the shotgun again and glanced over her shoulder at Murphy. The short woman was gaping, eyes wide in surprise at the now dead Grimm that littered the alleyway. Thick black smoke began oozing off their corpses, which had started to evaporate seconds after death.

Shouldering the shotgun, Pyrrha quickly rushed to Murphy's side. "Are you alright? Unharmed?"

Murphy's eyes were wide, "I…you…with the…how…"

Pyrrha scanned the alleyway. The hole the Grimm had emerged from was inactive at the moment, but she'd rather not take any chances. "Ms. Murphy, I will happily answer any questions you have, later. But right now, we need to get Harry and get out of here. Creeps never travel in small numbers."

"Wait, there are more of those things?"

"Yes, which is why we need to move sooner, rather than later."

Murphy swallowed once, and then the resolve hardened in her bright blue eyes. Without another word, both women moved over to Harry, and lifted him by his arms and legs. He was even heavier than he looked, which was quite the feat in Pyrrha's opinion. They marched for the exit, Harry swinging between him.

"What happened to him?" Pyrrha asked.

Murphy grunted, "That Sight thing he mentioned. He probably was still 'Seeing' things when those monsters showed up. I've heard he's seen some nasties before that were pretty bad. One of them basically put him in a coma until he managed to get used to the idea of what he was seeing."

Pyrrha glanced at the Grimm as the last of their remains evaporated. "That would certainly explain his reaction."

Grimm alone were bad enough to look at. Pyrrha didn't want to know what they're 'true form' looked like.

"Is he going to be alright?"

Murphy bit her lip, "I don't know. If he has enough time, maybe. We'll get him in the car and head back to the apartment, then-"

The ground shuddered beneath their feet once, twice, three times. The women stopped, and Pyrrha slowly set Dresden down. Murphy, who faced inside the alley, gulped. Pyrrha closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Ms. Murphy, please take Harry to the car. This should only take a few minutes." Another shudder, this time the asphalt pitched upward with the motion. Murphy didn't stumble, instead she tightened her grip under Harry's arms.

Pyrrha smiled, "Thank you." And turned around.

The crater the Creeps had emerged from bucked three times. The first sent a spiderweb of cracks rippling across the asphalt. The second shattered the edge of the crater, causing it to start collapsing in on itself. The third exploded into a fountain of stone with an ear splitting crack. Pyrrha covered her eyes with her arm until the rain of gravel ceased. Bits of the stone bit into her skin and parts of her outfit tore, but her Aura protected her from any real damage.

She lowered her arm and watched the Grimm emerge from its crater. One huge furry paw emerged from the hole and grabbed at the nearest wall. It was larger than her torso, and tipped with five bone white claws longer than a broadsword. Even beneath all that greasy matted fur, chords of muscle were painfully apparent.

Another paw, identical to the first, emerged and grabbed the opposite wall. They flexed together, and a colossal black bear pulled itself from the ground. Calling the Grimm a bear was a bit of a generalization though. This beast was twice as high as any bear, and far thicker. It's bleached white skull was also exposed, and large red eyes glared at Pyrrha. A small pyre of bone white spikes burst from its back, and pads of the that pebbly hide covered its shoulders and thighs.

This was what was called an Ursa, and they were far more powerful than a Creep or Beowolf. And it was standing over the shotgun that Pyrrha had abandoned when she started to move Harry. The Ursa seemed to know this, and snarled a challenge at the young woman.

Pyrrha's response was elegant in its simplicity.

She sprinted at it full speed, dropped into a baseball players slide, scooped the shotgun off the ground, passed under the Ursa's legs, and performed a rolling jump onto the other side of the crater.

The Ursa whirled around far faster than something its size should've been able to move, and brought one massive paw down on her. Pyrrha rolled to the side, feeling the breeze of the blow when it missed by inches. It came down on the asphalt and sent a rippling ravine shooting across the asphalt. Pyrrha fired the shotgun in response. A chunk of its mask below the left eye shattered under the impact, but an Ursa was far more durable than a Creep. The shot just made it angrier.

It swiped at Pyrrha again, but the girl effortlessly dodged the blow. The moment her feet hit the floor, she sprinted clockwise around the Grimm, leaping up onto the wall. The Ursa was fast, but Pyrrha was significantly faster. She pushed off the wall and crashed into the beasts shoulders. She grabbed one of its spikes to hold tight, pressed the barrel of the shotgun into the base of its skull, and jammed the trigger.

' _Click!'_

"What!?" She looked at the weapon in surprise, "Only five shots!?"

Her perch suddenly shifted under her feet, and Pyrrha almost slid off. The Ursa howled in rage and started tipping back. It was going to crush her under its considerable mass and weight, maybe impale her with its spines. Fat chance.

Pyrrha leaped off back towards the exit. She hit the floor in another roll, popped to her feet, and twisted to face the Grimm. It was rolling back and forth to get back onto its paws, but it was distracted from her for the moment. This would be the perfect point to attack, but Pyrrha only had the now empty shotgun, and it wouldn't be efficient or safe to try and bludgeon a sixteen foot tall demon-bear to death.

She needed something with range, something that she had more personal experience with. Pyrrha did a quick look around, and found no real weapons to speak of. She could go for the duffle bag, but the time it would take to pull ammo or another gun out would be time too long. Something makeshift would be far more useful.

Her eye fell on the dumpster for a moment. It had one of those heavy iron bars welded to its front so it could be towed. Six feet long, heavy iron, it'd have to do. Pyrrha tossed the shotgun aside, grabbed the bar, and heaved. Even with an aura enhanced sense of strength, very few people would be able to rip iron with anything resembling ease. Luckily, Pyrrha didn't need enhanced strength to pull that off.

A simple application of her Semblance caused the iron welds holding it in place to crack under the strain. The bar popped off with a sharp snap, and Pyrrha was suddenly wielding a six foot long iron pole. It was a poor replacement for her personal weapon, but beggars can't be choosers. A quick flick against the ground flattened one end, and her polarity warped it into a crude, but sharp, spearhead.

This was about the time the Ursa rolled onto its stomach, and stood on all fours. It loosed a terrible roar of challenge. Pyrrha casually twirled the spear in her hand, and charged the Ursa. It swiped at her, missing when she leaped over the beast. She swept her spear overhead, shattering its spines into shards of bone. She landed behind the beast and stabbed one of its hind legs at the knee.

The Ursa's leg went limp, and it whirled to face her. Pyrrha jumped back again, and quickly lunged forward. The spearhead hit it in its eye, sinking a foot into its skull. The Grimm screeched in agony, and lurched onto its hind legs. Pyrrha yelped, and went up with it. She did not let go of her spear though.

As the Grimm stumbled about in pain, she managed to push herself back down so her feet were pressed against its skull. She pulled hard, ripping the spear free with a disturbing squelch of flesh, and did a gymnasts backflip off the monster. Pyrrha landed, legs splayed, at the alley exit.

As she stood, the Ursa stumbled around until it was facing her, its remaining eye filled with renewed hatred. Pyrrha scowled and stood up. Without missing a beat, she struck a javelin throwers pose, and held up a single thumb to act as her sight. The muscles along her back and legs coiled tight, and her grip went tight.

She flung the javelin with enough force that it would've left burns in the hands of a normal person. In this case though, she was fine. The Grimm was not so lucky though. The spear flew with perfect precision, and sank half way up its hilt, right into the monsters other eye.

The roar of agony that followed was deafening. The Ursa flailed its arms around in a seizure of pain and fury, desperately trying to knock hit Pyrrha with one of those cinderblock paws. It was a useless gesture, as she was safely out of range for the moment. Pyrrha silently watched the monster flail, thinking on how she'd put it down, when Murphy's voice rang out.

"Pyrrha, get down!"

She dropped without a second thought. Something heavy whipped overhead, and there was a piercing snap, followed by a meaty smack. Pyrrha looked up and saw the Ursa was no longer flailing about in pain. The colossal two handed battle-axe buried in the center of its face likely had something to do with that.

The beast had been hit mid spasm, and the resulting blow had killed it instantly. The momentum of its thrashing had kept it going, and so it hit the side wall with far too much force, and lay half embedded in the wall, the other half loosely hanging from the edge.

"Wow," Pyrrha said. "That was an impressive throw, Ms. Murphy."

Pyrrha turned around and froze in surprise. Murphy still stood there her face twisted into a look of annoyance, Harry was laying at her feet unconscious, and half a dozen men in business suits and armed stood behind both of them. Pyrrha noted that all of them looked rather nervous to be facing her, which meant they had just seen her bout with the Grimm and had an idea of what she was capable of. One small advantage in her favor, if things went south.

The leader of the men stepped past Murphy and Pyrrha blinked in surprise. He was a she, actually, and she was rather large. The woman stood a hairsbreadth taller than Pyrrha, with blonde hair tied into a neat bun. She had a strong face and hard blue eyes. Like her men, she was dressed in a business, though hers was a shade of silver. Unlike her men, Pyrrha could see that this woman was incredibly fit. She had the posture and proportions of a veteran Huntress. It was the only sign that she wasn't quite what she appeared. That, and the large, now empty, duffel bag she carried.

The woman skimmed over Pyrrha and the decaying Grimm, and gestured at the men. They cautiously moved to surround Pyrrha, but were smart enough to not point their weapons at her. Murphy sighed in annoyance, and pinched her nose. "Gard, is any of this necessary?"

Gard frowned, "I see a mortal warrior capable of physical feats not seen in a long time, Ms. Murphy. To be less than cautious would be the equivalent of signing our own death warrants."

The men glanced at each other nervously. If Gard noticed, she didn't show it. She merely continued, observing Murphy and Harry with a single arched brow. "Unless, of course, you vouch for this young woman?"

"Well obviously," Murphy said.

"Ah, I see," said Gard, "Then we shall bring her as well."

Murphy scowled, "Wait, bring us where? And how did you even know we were here?"

Gards face remained expressionless, "There were reports of screaming and fire during the thunderstorm last night. It was only a matter of waiting for Dresden to return. Mr. Marcone wishes to speak with him on a matter most important."

Who was Marcone? That was what Pyrrha wanted to ask, but she wasn't ready to start a fight yet, not until she knew more. Until she had a firm grasp on the situation, she wouldn't act quite yet.

Murphy's scowl didn't fade, and she seemed ready to jump over and shield Harry with her body if she had to. Or start strangling Gard. Either option was perfectly feasible.

"He's not in any shape to meet with your boss, Gard." Murphy growled through clenched teeth. "Give us a few hours, we'll see if we can work you into our schedule."

Gard shook her head, "I fear that is not an option. Time is of the essence, and a delay of hours will make or break the possibility of tragedy."

"Oh no," Murphy remained completely deadpan, "Marcone's business operations are suffering a hit. How will I ever live with myself knowing that I let Marcone lose a profit on very illegal business operations?"

A frown crossed Gards face, and she gestured her head at one of her men. The man didn't quite raise his gun at Murphy, but the message was rather clear. Gard clarified anyway.

"It's not a request Ms. Murphy. You'll be coming with us now, whether you want to or not."

There was her cue. Forming a fist with her hand, Pyrrha used her Semblance to grab hold of every weapon these obvious crooks had, and ripped them free with a flick of her wrist. Knives, guns, and belt buckles flew from their respective persons and into a large ball of metal that crumpled metal and steel. Pyrrha dropped it with a large thud, and used the same technique to pull Gard's battle axe from the near gone Grimm into her free hand.

The men around her jumped back in surprise, followed by more jumping when their pants began falling around their ankles. They yelped in surprise at that, but Pyrrha ignored them and pointed the battle axe at Gard. The woman was smart enough not to say anything, and took a single step back.

"We'll be going now, if that's okay with you," Murphy said. Her eyes twinkled with appraisal, and she had a smug grin on her face. Pyrrha slowly circled Gard and started back-stepping towards Murphy, never letting the woman, or her guards, out of her sight.

Gard flipped what appeared to be a silver coin between the fingers on her right hand, completely at ease despite Pyrrha's demonstration of power. "I feel I have no choice in the matter as of this moment, I am unarmed and faced with a teenage girl, and a near crippled ex-cop. Whatever am I supposed to do?"

Murphy's smile didn't fade, but her eyes flashed with anger. "Pyrrha, can you knock her out with that axe of yours?"

Pyrrha blinked, "I…um…"

"No," Gard said, "I'm afraid you can't, Miss Pyrrha."

Gard twitched her fingers, and the coin in her hand snapped in two. There was a crackle of thunder, a flash of white hot agony, and everything went dark.

* * *

Pyrrha woke up with another piercing headache, in another unfamiliar location. That would make it, what, the third time this had happened? Or was it the fourth? At this rate, she was going to need to start keeping score.

A quick look around, she was getting way too good at that, showed that she was in a limousine of some kind. It wasn't incredibly large, but it was large enough to let Pyrrha comfortably sleep on one of its chairs. It had soft white leather seats, a furnished interior, and what looked like a cooler. It was also filled with armed men.

They all occupied the front of the cabin, where Gard sat between them all, no weapon to be seen. Across from her, Murphy sat with several more armed men around her. And across from Pyrrha, Dresden sat, one hand covering his eyes while he rocked back and forth softly muttering to himself.

"What happened?"

That was what Pyrrha tried to ask. It came out as more of a pained grunt. Murphy glanced at her first and looked relieved, "Oh thank god you're still alive."

Pyrrha swallowed to wet her throat, "What…happened?"

"I activated the enchantment on my axe to disable you." Gard said simply.

"Bullshit, you practically fried her!" Murphy accused.

Gard shrugged, "If she were a normal mortal, it would likely have removed her arm from its socket. As it is, she is exceptionally more durable than most mortals, so I found it safe to use the rune."

Harry groaned and rubbed at his temples. His eyes were stained with tears and he had several tissues shoved up his nose, all of them stained with blood. "Can you guys…keep it down? Or… at the very least… dump some bleach down my skull."

Murphy smiled a little, "Hey, he speaks. How're you feeling Dresden?"

A slight bump in the road shook the limo. Harry groaned and let his head drop. "You know the feeling you get after a long night at Mac's?"

"Yeah?"

"I wish I felt like that right now."

A wry smile touched Gard's lips. "As always, your tenacity in the face of overwhelming opposition is admirable Dresden."

"Save it Gard," Harry grumbled. He sat up and ran a hand over his face, finally blinking his eyes open.

When he saw Pyrrha, he frowned a little. He didn't say anything, but his eyes, tired as they were, spoke a very clear message.

' _We need to talk. Soon.'_

Pyrrha blinked in surprise, but nodded faintly in confirmation. Obviously Harry knew something that was fairly important. Unfortunately, it'd have to wait until their appointment with this 'Mr. Marcone' was over.

Which brought up another question, actually.

Pyrrha pulled herself up, ignoring the jackhammer in at her temples, and asked, "Where… are you taking us?"

"My employer has many safe houses. We'll be heading to one Mr. Dresden already knows quite well." Gard said smoothly.

Harry covered his face, "Oh god. Can we leave the kid here then at least? I don't think minors are even allowed in places like that."

Gard just looked amused, while Pyrrha cocked her head to one side, "I'm sorry, but that doesn't really answer my question Ms. Gard."

Murphy grinned in a very cheeky manner, "We're going to Harry's personal 'gym'. Full platinum membership, right Dresden?"

"Murphy, please," Harry grumbled, and slumped into his seat.

Pyrrha felt her eyebrow twitch, "Please, can you clarify that?"

More grumbling from Harry, before he finally seemed to suck it up and tell her, "A brothel. We're going to meet Marcone at a brothel

 **A/N: Fellow readers of the Dresden Files, you know exactly where we're going to wind up in the next chapter. To my other fans, well, we're in for a treat. I apologize this chapter took so long to post today, but I had a bug over the weekend that made it difficult to sit up, let alone write. I'm feeling much better now, and hopefully I'll be able to return to my noon schedule I'm trying to adhere to.**

 **Now, onto other news. First and foremost, we hit over a thousand views guys! One chapter post, and the number of views, reviews, and followers/favorites doubled! That is incredible, and I thank you all so much for your reading and support, really, it means so much. Which brings us to the other part of the day, question time from the previous chapter.**

 **Lotheon asks: How creatures of the white court or others would react to Pyrrha since she wears her soul on the outside.**

 **Well to that Lotheon, I always saw the Aura as more of a situational shield. Its only on in combat, and even in combat, its not exactly incredible noticeable. Otherwise, injuries and the like wouldn't affect the characters of RWBY, and we'd see more signs of them. Maybe I'm wrong with this, but for the sake of plot, I'm going to limit how much creatures of the Dresdenverse can sense her aura. To most, they'll just assume she's a particularly energetic wizard.**

 **The only other question is from a Mr. Xbox432. He asks: I wonder if Harry will tell his Queen that he's come across a breach in the outer gates? Or at least I'm pretty sure that an interdimensional gateway through which monsters are arriving would somewhat fall under Mab's jurisdiction.**

 **Well you're certainly right on that latter part, but as you'll see later on, Harry is more than a little reluctant to get Mab involved in anything right now, given what unfolded in Cold Days and Skin Game. I can promise you this though, before the end of this story, we will get an appearance by the Queen of Air and Darkness herself.**

 **Thats all the questions we have for the last chapter though, I hope you guys enjoyed this short, but action packed chapter. Lemme know in your reviews, and don't forget to leave any questions or comments!**

 **Ta-ta for now!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"What's a brothel?"

Pyrrha had never heard the term before, and assumed it was something native to Harry's world. It was a simple question, and not the first time she had to ask for clarification from Harry regarding his world.

But for some reason, when Pyrrha asked that question, Harry's eyes went a little wide and a furious blush colored his face. The inside of the car was filled with snickering from their escort. Even Murphy had covered her mouth to cover the huge grin on her face. The only one not laughing, was Gard. The woman rolled her eyes and glanced out the window, impatiently tapping her foot on the floor.

"What?" Pyrrha asked. "I don't understand, what's so funny?"

Murphy tittered behind her hand, "N-nothing. Why don't you explain it to her Harry? You're the best man for the job."

The glare Harry sent her way could have killed, but it only made Murphy start giggling. Harry sighed and scratched the back of his head, avoiding eye contact with anyone. "Its… well, a place where… adults go to do… adult… things."

Pyrrha raised a brow, "Like what? Gambling?"

More laughter, this time from the guards. Harry scowled at them. "No, its…very adult things."

Pyrrha blinked at him.

Harry sighed, "Okay, look… Its… you see, when a man and women enjoy each other's company-"

The wheels suddenly clicked in Pyrrha's head. "O-okay, stop right there please! I think I understand now."

"Oh thank god," Harry sighed and covered his face again.

Laughter erupted from the limo, and even Gard had a small smile on her face. Pyrrha felt her cheeks start to burn, and took an acute interest in the floor. Knowing what Harry meant now, that meant a brothel was…was…

Ew.

Pyrrha squeezed her eyes and shook her head. That was a mental image she was never going to get out of her head now. Truly she was blessed to have met such interesting people in such a short span of time.

Again, ew.

* * *

The rest of the drive was spent in an awkward silence. Pyrrha developed a unique fascination with the floor, and Harry focused on clearing his mind of whatever it was he had seen when the Grimm attacked. Murphy remained silent, but her eyes kept a close watch on Gard.

When the car finally rolled to a stop, Gard spoke for the first time in what felt like ages. "We're here. Everyone out."

They did as they were told. They had parked in front of what had once been a two story hotel of some kind. Now it looked like its lower floor had been converted into several legitimate businesses, furniture stores, organic food sales, etc. Obviously, the first floor wasn't where Gard was taking them.

Speaking of, the woman snapped her fingers and the guards opened the trunk, gathering several items from it. Harry was handed his staff and blasting rod, Murphy her pistol, and Pyrrha was given a jacket and a new set of shoes.

Harry eyed Gard, "Not afraid I'll try to start something if you give me my gear back?"

"No." was Gard's simple reply. Harry grunted and accepted his staff. Murphy snatched her pistol out of the guard's hands, and glared up at him. Pyrrha just tried not to blush more.

In all the confusion during the fight, Pyrrha hadn't realized that clothes in Harry's universe weren't designed to interact with the Aura of their wearer. Thus, the outfit Murphy had gotten for her was fairly shredded. Several tears had formed along the seams of her tights, her skirt was ragged, and Gard's security measure on her battle axe had incinerated the entire right arm of her blouse. She'd also lost her shoes in the fighting at some point, leaving her barefoot again.

Needless to say, Pyrrha gracefully accepted the offered articles of clothing. Once she was dressed, their little group was marched into the hotel. Pyrrha didn't get a chance to really look around inside, there were too many guards around them. It was just a march to a sleek elevator that was neatly tucked out of plain view.

Gard pressed a button on its panel, and a woman's cheery voice crackled through the speaker, ' _Welcome to Executive Priority Health. How may I help you?'_

"It's Gard." Her reply was curt and no nonsense.

There was a visible pause over the line. When the woman spoke again, her cheer remained, but there was a shaky edge to it. _'A-ah, Ms. Gard. We'll ready and escort-_

"Unnecessary. Just send the elevator down."

' _Y-yes ma'am!'_

The elevator doors dinged open, and they were shuffled inside. It wasn't large enough for every guard, so it was limited to the three of them, plus Gard and another. Harry tapped his staff against the ground.

"Wizard in a tight space, with someone who threatened his friends. Not a good place to be Gard."

Gard looked at him blandly, "If you had been conscious, Dresden, we would not be in this situation in the first place. Ms. Murphy decided to make things difficult, and your…" she glanced at Pyrrha, "…Other, compatriot escalated the situation. Rest assured, my employer has no interest in harming you, given recent events."

Harry scratched his chin, "Uh huh, right. We'll see about that when I talk to him, won't we?"

"Indeed we shall."

The elevator doors opened a moment later, and Gard lead them out. It wasn't quite what she had expected. From what Harry had described, Pyrrha had expected the building to be quite a bit seedier. What she saw instead, was a state of the art gym.

Tall ceilings, warm colors, and various work out equipment that looked quite top of the line. Even the front desk looked very classy for what was essentially an over done gym. The business name was emblazoned with gold behind the desk, and a woman of average height sat in front of it.

Actually, a quick look around showed Pyrrha that there were women everywhere. All of them were in their early twenties at least, very fit, average height, and wore short shorts and tight black shirts with their names emblazoned across their ample… assets. All the clients on the workout machine were dominantly male. Pyrrha didn't see a single woman among them, and she wrinkled her nose.

"How long do we need to be here?" she whispered to Harry.

He shook his head, "If things go smoothly, only a few minutes. Just keep your head down, kiddo. Long as you don't make eye contact, you should be safe."

"Safe from what?"

"A job offering," Murphy mumbled. Unlike Pyrrha, she made no attempt to disguise her contempt for the place. She was practically radiating a 'screw off and die' atmosphere. An impressive feat for someone so small.

Gard lead them past all the workout machines and cliental of the establishment surprisingly fast. Pyrrha was thankful for it. The less time spent at this so called health club, the better.

She lead them to a small door near the back, labelled 'Executive Offices' and opened it. Inside was a hallway of several, well, offices. Each one was well furnished and smelled of wood polish. The steady tap-tap-tap of typing was the only sound in the halls. Other than that, it was dead silent. Not in the casual air of stable work, but in the air of tension. Something big had happened recently, and these workers were nervous.

One last time, Gard escorted them down the hall to final door. Before she opened it, Harry snapped his fingers. "I just realized what was wrong. What happened to Cujo? He's normally around for these meetings slash interrogations."

Gards hand tightened around the door, and she set her jaw into a firm line. For a moment, Pyrrha tensed in case Gard decided to use said door as a bludgeoning device on Harry. She didn't, but she came exceptionally close.

Instead, Gard twisted the handle until it popped and pushed the door open. "He's here, sir." She growled, and stepped aside.

Harry raised a brow at Gard's behavior before stepping inside. Pyrrha followed into the office, which was no more excessively furnished than the rest of the offices. A few filing cabinets rested at the back, and the desk was made of oak, but besides that, it was surprisingly sparse. No computer either, which was a surprise.

Pyrrha didn't see him until after she took in the office though. Finally though, she did see the man who had dragged them all the way here into his own private facilities. The man who had a finger in every pie in Chicago, if Murphy was to be believed, and could easily employ a woman with enough power to kill a Grimm with a well-placed throw.

John Marcone, the Baron of Chicago…

Looked more like a sports coach than a crime lord.

He was an inch under six feet, with short, salt and pepper hair, and dressed in a silver business suit. Smile lines were clear at the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were a faded green, like the currency that Pyrrha had seen around Chicago. He wasn't the most handsome man she'd seen, but he had a collected confidence about him that boosted his features into something greater. Really, he wouldn't have looked out of place among Beacon's staff.

Except, that is, for those same faded green eyes. Pyrrha could see something lurking beneath those eyes. An almost animal cunning that she'd seen on only a handful of people before. Criminals mostly, but some Hunters and Huntresses at the school had the look too. Her teammate Ren was one, as were some of the transfer students from Atlas. So had… Ruby, actually, come to think of it. The young girl just hid it behind an adorable screen of innocence.

Marcone made no effort to hide it, letting it show for anyone who dared to meet his eyes. Pyrrha straightened her shoulders a little, and didn't give him the satisfaction of backing down. Showing weakness in front of a predator was far more dangerous than bull-headed courage.

His lips twitched, and his eyes flashed back to Harry. "Mr. Dresden, a pleasure to see you again." He said in a slow, precise tone.

"I'd say the same, but lying to someone's face is just so rude, you know?" Harry grinned, "And you know how I am about minding my manners, Marcone."

Marcone leaned back in his chair, his face a mask, "Indeed. Please, take a seat."

"Not until you explain yourself," Harry said. "What's the big idea on threatening me and my friends into coming here."

Marcone raised a brow, "Threaten you? I did no such thing, Dresden."

"Gard nearly shot Murphy, and almost blew off her arm," Harry pointed at Pyrrha, but didn't give her name. Pyrrha decided that unless directly asked, she wouldn't give it, either.

Marcone peered past Harry at the door for a moment, and folded his hands into a steeple. "I see. I feel I must apologize for my employee's behavior then, Dresden, as it was never my intention to threaten you into coming here. Rest assured that I shall discipline Ms. Gard for her actions towards you and your guests. Does that satisfy your bruised ego?"

"Hardly," Harry said, "But you obviously need something, and I'd like to hear it before I tell you no."

"Of course," Marcone reached under his desk and revealed a single manila folder. He tossed it across the desk to Harry.

The tall man picked up the file without looking at Marcone, and opened it with a flick of his wrist. Pyrrha had to hide her gasp. A dozen pictures of Grimm, varying in size, species, and location, were all stored in that file. Most were shrouded in night, but a few had clearly been taken in the middle of the day. All of them were coated in blood.

Harry's eyes widened only a fraction of an inch, but he was much better at hiding his surprise than Pyrrha was. It wasn't enough though.

Marcone smirked. "Ah, so you have seen these creatures before, the both of you. Of course, Gard reported the same, but I had to be sure."

His lips forming into a thin line, Harry tossed the file back onto the desk, "How long, Marcone? How long have the attacks been occurring?"

"As of last night, one full week." Marcone said. "All have been focused on less than admirable establishments within the Chicago underworld. They began on the White Courts territory, but a few days ago, they came after my own businesses. I have been monitoring the area of the attacks ever since, waiting for you to arrive on scene."

"I have a phone," Harry said, "You could've at least called and given me a heads up."

Marcone gave him a deadpan expression, "Dresden, I hold no illusions about our relationship. At best, it is one of mutual benefits, but I am well aware of your distaste for me and my businesses. If I called asking for your help, you'd likely have accused me of scheming before hanging up. Besides, I knew you'd stumble onto this eventually, you always do."

Harry glared at the man, but did not refute his point. Instead, he found something else to get angry over. "So instead, you simply let your people die? That's cold, even for you Marcone."

"Dresden, please, I'm insulted." Marcone said. "The well-being of my people is my number one priority, and you know it. I have several strike teams on standby in case of an emergency, but they lack your… delicate, touch."

Harry said nothing, but his staff creaked in his grip.

Marcone took that as a sign to continue, "I am aware that this is asking much from you, Dresden, but I'd be willing to propose a temporary alliance until-"

"Fine, deal," Harry interrupted.

That seemed to take Marcone off guard. His eyebrows rose half an inch, which was likely as expressive as he would get. Murphy summed his reaction up in words. "Harry, are you serious?"

"Yeah, I am." Harry said. "I've seen what these things are, and I know what they'll do. If they're appearing all over Chicago, then we need to find the hole they're leaking through, and plug it up tight. Because once they're done with Marcone, they'll be coming for innocent people next."

Marcone smiled, faintly, and leaned forward, "Then I take it we have a deal, Dresden?"

Harry glared at him. "We have an understanding. I'm going to investigate these attacks, I'm going to stop these attacks, and your people will stay the hell out of my way. If you don't like it, then tough. Shit."

Marcone chuckled, "Oh no, I understand your terms Dresden, and I find them quite reasonable. You shall have my willing cooperation in this endeavor. In fact, your car is waiting for you outside the building, and a list of attacked locations has been provided for you on the dashboard."

"Wait, how'd you get my car here?" Harry demanded.

"I feel you don't want to know the answer to that," Marcone replied, leaning back in his chair. "And for the moment, we have nothing more to discuss, Dresden. Should anything come up though, I shall be residing here for the next few days. You know the number."

Harry grumbled at Marcone, and began to stomp out of the room, "Come on you two. We've got work to do."

Pyrrha quickly moved after him, while Murphy stayed behind for a moment and gave Marcone her own glare. "If this turns out to be some sort of elaborate setup Marcone, we're coming after you. Is that clear?"

The crime boss smiled at her, "Crystal, Ms. Murphy."

"Good." She nodded and followed the others out.

No one escorted the trio out of the building this time. They were able to leave unmolested, and casually passed by the guards in the hall, who were talking with a red haired man in a crisp white business suit.

"Sir, you'll need to wait until Mr. Marcone is ready." One of them told him in a calm manner.

The man poked him with his cane, "And I'm telling you that time is not something I have in abundance. If your boss wants to see my product, he'll need to make time, do I make myself clear?"

Pyrrha stopped at the office exit and looked back at the altercation. Something about the man, his voice, his hair, and even his outfit seemed familiar. She could've sworn she saw him somewhere before, but…

"Pyrrha?"

Harry shook her shoulder, and she blinked, "Huh?"

"You weren't moving, you okay?"

He wore a look of concern on his face. Pyrrha looked from him back down the hall. The red-headed man was being lead into Marcone's office, and his demeanor had quickly switched, from irritated jerk, to personable nice guy. Pyrrha shook her head.

"I'm fine. I thought I recognized that man, but perhaps I'm just feeling homesick."

Harry nodded, "Right. Don't worry kiddo, we'll get you home. I promise."

* * *

They left the hotel behind, (Murphy said it used to be called the Madison before Marcone got his mitts on it) and found the Blue Beetle Mk. II parked along the curb where the limo had once been. It had a neat smooth shine of sky blue paint, and had a very retro look to it that Pyrrha found endearing, if not exactly interesting. Save for the colossal dent in the hood, it was in remarkable shape as well.

"Less than a week and you've already wrecked it," Murphy sighed.

Harry walked around the front, and tapped the car's hood. It popped open with a noticeable groan of effort, "Hey, don't judge. Car-fu requires great personal sacrifice."

Pyrrha winced, "I'm sorry. I can fix it right now, it's the least I can do."

"No, no," Harry waved it off, "Just get in and we'll be on our way after I make a quick phone call."

With that said, he marched off to… A pay-phone. Pyrrha blinked in surprise. "You still use those?"

"No," Murphy shook her head, "But Harry doesn't have a choice. It's a wizards curse, he can't really use advanced tech like cell phones or newer cars without them breaking down. Marcone probably had the phone installed just in case Harry came swinging by."

Pyrrha glanced up at the building. Even though most of its windows were blocked by curtains, she couldn't help but get a feeling that she was still be watching by Marcone. It made her skin crawl, and she shuddered involuntarily.

"He's an… interesting man, Marcone."

"One way to describe him," Murphy agreed.

Pyrrha frowned at the tone in her voice. "He's not a good man though, either."

Murphy inclined her head, "Again, one way to describe him. Marcone is complex. On the one hand, he runs all the crime in Chicago, and removes obstacles in his path without a second thought. On the other hand, he runs all the crime in Chicago and removes obstacles in his path. The alternative is unorganized crime and a dozen gangs all working for control over the city. The CPD is perfectly happy to leave Marcone in charge, as long as he keeps collateral damage to a minimum."

"That…" Pyrrha searched for a way to describe such an arrangement. She found one fast, "Is very… I'd say clever, but it really only seems to put the problem off, doesn't it?"

"Marcone will live for a long time," Murphy replied. "If he goes, it'll be Father Time that gets him. That's at least a few decades of manageable crime at least."

"But wouldn't it be better to make sure the crime doesn't exist at all?" Pyrrha asked.

Murphy chuckled at that, and looked at Pyrrha with the expression an adult would wear when lecturing children, "Pyrrha, sweetie, that's a nice sentiment, but-"

Harry cursed at the phone, and slammed it back on its receiver before marching back to the two women. Murphy sighed at the interruption and turned back to him. "Any luck?"

"No, he wouldn't pick up his stupid phone," Harry grumbled, fuming all the way to driver side door. "So now we have to drive all the way down to his stupid apartment to check on his stupid ass and make sure his stupid face didn't get mauled by a stupid Grimm. Stupidly."

Pyrrha blinked, "Um, and…who is this?"

"Thomas, a friend," Murphy said. She opened the Beetle's door and got in, slinking into the back seat. She was the shortest of their group, and could fit in the back comfortably. Pyrrha thanked her, and slid into the passenger seat.

Harry started the car up, still grumbling to himself. Pyrrha bit her lip, debated on asking more about this Thomas character, and decided against it for now. There were other questions to be asked. An important one, actually.

"Harry?" she asked.

The wizard took a deep breath, and exhaled, "Yes?"

"Earlier you said you wanted to talk. What about, exactly?"

His sour mood faded to be replaced with reluctance, "Ah… Yes, that."

"Yes, that," Pyrrha agreed.

They pulled out from the curb and began driving. Harry drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, silently thinking on how best to phrase this without causing Pyrrha's mind to shatter again.

"Remember how, before Murph showed up, I was drilling you on what might have sent you to our world?"

A sharp pain in her temples made Pyrrha flinch. She clenched an eye shut and rubbed at her skull, "Yes, I do remember that."

Harry nodded slowly, "Right. Well, it didn't occur to me at the time, but when we were in the alley, and those… Grimm, attacked us, I Saw you before I…" he swallowed and his face went pale.

Murphy reached up from behind him and took his free hand in hers, rubbing her thumb over the top of it. Harry glanced back at her and smiled his thanks. She returned it, and gestured for him to continue.

"I Saw you," he repeated.

Pyrrha sucked in a breath. According to Murphy, the Sight let him see things as they really were. If he had Seen her, that meant he saw her for what she truly was, and whatever that may imply. The thought, now that she was thinking on it, was actually rather scary. Harry knew more about her on a very intimate level, starting with their Soulgaze, and now seeing her 'true' form, for lack of a better term.

What he might have seen made her nervous, to say the least. But she also had to know, because obviously what he had seen was very shocking. So she asked the obvious question.

"What did you see?"

Harry looked at her, "I saw you, as you are. Using the Sight, you look almost identical to how you are now, just… Dressed different."

He looked back out the window, "And… touched, by Black Magic."

* * *

 **A/N:Dun dun dun! What a twist! More shall be expanded on in the following chapter, this Saturday! Now, onto other stuff.**

 **First, I'd like to apologize for the late posting, a combination of Writers Block, family time, and landscaping kept me from working. If it weren't for that, this chapter probably would've gone up at Noon today. Alas, I am constantly being distracted/lazy and thus posting late. But hey, I'm still on time, and thats what matters! Speaking of things that matter, another five hundred views guys, and twelve reviews on the last chapter! Wow, seriously, you are all amazing, and I love you for it. And many of those reviews, of course, contained... Questions!**

 **First question:**

 **Xbox432 Asks:** **I'm kinda wondering what Harry will do/say about Gard attacking someone under his protection. He usually doesn't take that kinda stuff well.**

 **Yeah, you're right Xbox, and there is a reason for his passive reaction. Harry is still disoriented by being essentially mind raped by the Grimm, so he's not at one hundred percent snark factor. Don't worry, it will be rectified, and yes, he will explain what the Grimm 'Really' look like. If I can figure out an appropriate metaphor, anyway.**

 **Next, we have Doctor Blood, who asks: Can Pyrrha unlock the Aura of Earth Humans?**

 **A good question, and I have an interesting reasoning/answer for that. Which I will not expand upon, because that would obviously be a huge spoiler if she could or couldn't, wouldn't it? Sorry Doc, this one will have to stay on the down low, for now.**

 **Next, we have Phat0m5, who posted a colossal rant on the Physics of Dust based weaponry and Gunpowder based weaponry. I won't copy paste it here, just check out the reviews for all the details.**

 **I'll summarize my response here though. For the sake of plot/drama/balance, I have made Dust rounds weaker but more versatile, while gunpowder weaponry is significantly more powerful but less versatile. This will allow the Dresdenverse humans to stay relevant, while also giving RWBY characters their own personal advantage as well. Sorry if you don't like that, but in this case, Rule of Plot overrules physics.**

 **Okay, next question is from Lotheon again, hello, nice to see you again. He asks, or rather, mentions: T** **here is no way Gatekeeper doesnt' know that someone is here that isn't supposed to be.**

 **To that, I say... You are very, very right. Hehehe.**

 **Last two questions folks. The first is from ww1990ww, who wants to know: Is Remnant an actual world, or a prison in the Nevernever.**

 **Do not worry 1990's! Remnant is in fact its own world, and has no relation with the Nevernever as we know it. Take that statement as you will, for I will not expand on it!**

 **Last question is from Prince Sheogorath, always nice to have the Daedric Gods involved in any mortal affairs. Anyway, the crazy god wants to know:** **Is Pyrhha going to be teaching Harry anything? I really want to see how Dresden's Aura and Semblance will manifest.**

 **Ah, but you see my dear Prince, Dresden is already uber tier overpowered. Plus, as vaguely mentioned in the prologue, he already seems to have a Semblance and Aura, or something really close. Giving him those powers would kind of just make him even more broken than he already is. So no, sorry my fans, but Harry will not be having his Aura unlocked, but trust me, he won't be needing it.**

 **That's all the questions for now folks, remember if you have more to leave them in the reviews, for I will happily answer them in the next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it, and I'll see you all on Saturday.**

 **Ta-ta for now!**


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Harry, I'm sorry, but I barely understand what normal magic is, let alone the difference between it and Black Magic." Pyrrha said.

Harry winced, "Right, sorry. I was feeling a bit needlessly dramatic. Let me explain."

Pyrrha sat back in her seat, notebook in hand. Harry paused, and Murphy poked her head between the seats, blinking in surprise. "Um…notebook?"

"Found it under the passenger seat," Pyrrha explained, and smiled. "Please, continue."

Murphy and Harry exchanged a brief look. "Right. Well, the difference is a pretty big one. First you have to understand that all magic comes from the same source. Magic comes from life, its essentially life energy in a malleable form."

"So it's similar to an Aura, or Semblance," Pyrrha said.

Harry nodded, "Essentially. But magic has all kinds of different flavors. That's where Black Magic comes in. You see Pyrrha, there are Seven Laws of Magic that must be abided by. The White Council enforces them, and anyone that breaks them is using Black Magic."

"But what is it?" Pyrrha asked.

"Its…" Harry sighed. "It's basically crime magic. If you kill someone with magic, if you mess with their mind, if you try to use it to bring back the dead, it's all Black Magic. To use magic, it requires you to truly believe in whatever spell you're casting. Otherwise, it will either be significantly weaker, or simply not exist. Now take that into consideration for the violations of the Seven Laws, and what kind of mindset a person would need to use it."

Pyrrha's eyes went wide, "Oh... Oh dear. It's not just breaking a law is it? Its… It's just… wrong."

"Exactly. It goes against the very nature of magic, twists and corrupts it. And the user. If the caster isn't found in time, they're mind is warped until they become a Warlock, someone who uses Black Magic without hesitation."

Harry sighed, "Which is why the White Council has an almost zero tolerance policy when it comes to violators of the laws."

Pyrrha pursed her lips. From Harry's tone, it sounded like he had personal experience with the Council's zero-tolerance policy. She debated asking him to elaborate, but one look at the stern look on his face put that idea on ice.

The real question though, the one that Pyrrha kept dancing around, was what exactly had happened to her. Harry told her, but he hadn't _told_ her. Not yet. That scared her more than anything else.

She swallowed and set the notebook down. The Blue Beetle bumped across a pothole, jostling Pyrrha in her seat. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "What… Magic was used on me, Harry?"

Harry glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She saw a look of pity in them, a sad sense of empathy for her. Her lips tightened into a firm line. "Harry, please. I need to know."

"Psychomancy."

Pyrrha blinked, "Um…what?"

"Magic of the mind," Harry explained, "Psychomancy. Someone has used magic to either manipulate, block, or remove your memories. That's why, when I was quizzing you earlier today, you had a panic attack when you tried to remember everything. The spell cast on you won't let you remember what happened. Not yet anyway?"

Something tightened in Pyrrha's chest. She kept turned back to the window, watching the Chicago streets roll by, but her grip on the notebook tightened until her knuckles turned white. "O-oh. So its… temporary?"

"All Psychomancy is temporary to a degree. The human mind doesn't like to be messed with, and it'll try to repair itself. For some this can take a few days or weeks, depending on the spells complexity. For others though…"

He awkwardly let the unsaid thought hang in the air. Pyrrha knew what he was implying, and tore her eyes from the window to look at him. "You can fix it, right?"

The Beetle came to a stop at a red light. Harry released the steering wheel and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "No, I can't Pyrrha. Psychomancy is forbidden, and what little of it I do know could cause far more harm than good. Plus, we don't know how bad those memories are. I've seen people use it to help others, even if the results were pretty bad."

"They're my memories, my mind." Pyrrha said. "I don't care how bad they might be, I have a right to know what they are."

"Not arguing with you, I agree one hundred percent. I'm just not the guy to do it."

Murphy, who had been exceptionally quiet during this time, spoke up. "You're going to call her in?"

Harry winced. "No. Not yet. She's… very busy nowadays. I'll take her to Edinburgh when we have the time. Rashid should be able to remove the blocks."

Murphy sucked in a breath through her teeth, "Edinburgh… Are you sure Harry? You and the Council aren't exactly on good terms."

The light turned green, and the Beetle jerked forward. Pyrrha steadied herself and raised her hand like she was in class. "Excuse me, but what is Edinburgh? I don't know any of the landmarks on your world."

"City across the ocean." Harry said. "The White Council headquarters is located there, and Rashid is on the Senior Council. He is also the wizard with the most experience in Psychomancy on the Council. He should be able to help."

Murphy tapped the back of Harry's chair. The tall man grunted. "And if he can't, I have a friend who's pretty much a full blown expert on it. She's just been occupied lately. Getting to Rashid will be easier."

"Assuming the Council lets you into Edinburgh at all." Murphy grumbled. There was a venom in her voice that Pyrrha had heard a handful of times.

She turned around in her seat until she was facing Murphy, and asked, "What happened between Harry and the Council?"

Murphy closed her eyes tight. Harry sighed from the driver's seat. "Really complicated Pyrrha. To keep it simple, I was out of commission for a while and the Council thought they were rid of me forever. When I came back, a lot of them were… Less than pleased with me."

"Oh." Pyrrha bit her bottom lip, "Does that mean they won't help us?"

"Rashid will," Harry assured her. "It's just a matter of whether or not he'll be there."

Pyrrha nodded. She felt herself shaking, and focused on stopping it. This wasn't right. The ability to just… remove her memories, to block a part of her own mind off with a simple uttering of words was just wrong. Not only on a moral level, but on an uncomfortably intimate level. She felt violated. She felt sick, and her whole world felt like it was shaking.

Murphy made a nervous noise, "Um, Harry, is your car shaking?"

Harry glanced around the bug. The entire chassis was trembling and warping for no apparent reason, creaking ominously under an invisible strain. His mind went back to the kitchen, what happened when Pyrrha had tried to recall her memories.

"Pyrrha!"

She snapped her eyes up to Harry, and the trembling stopped. "Huh? Sorry, what did you say?"

Harry looked around his car once, and satisfied it was no longer at risk of implosion, gave Pyrrha a stern look. "Is this going to be a recurring problem?"

"Is what going to be a problem?"

Harry gestured at the car, "You… wigging out and losing control of your powers. You almost crushed the car while we were driving."

A look of shock and horror swept across Pyrrha's face, "W-what?!"

That couldn't be right. Pyrrha had excellent control over her powers, and even if she was stressed she wouldn't accidentally crush their car. Well, except she'd shown earlier that very day that wasn't the case. When Harry had questioned her, Pyrrha's panic attack had nearly impaled him with every sliver of metal in the kitchen. Her control over her Semblance was far from perfect, and they both knew it.

She covered her face, "Oh…oh no. I'm so sorry Harry."

Harry's lips tightened and he nodded slowly, "I know you are Pyrrha. But sorry isn't going to be enough. I hate to say this, but if you really have that hard of a time with your powers, we should leave you at the apartment. You could hurt us, or someone around us."

Pyrrha started taking deep breaths to calm herself. The storm of emotions brewing inside her didn't vanish, but they did lessen. She looked at Harry, "I can control my Semblance Harry. I will control it. I swear I won't harm you or anyone close to you. I promise."

His eyes till on the road, Harry nodded, "Fine. But if I think things are going to get intense, or if you feel like you're going to have a… panic attack, tell me and leave. Find a quiet spot, something. Murph and I don't have an Aura to protect us. No one does. If you lose it, I think you can imagine the gruesome details."

Pyrrha nodded, "Of course. I'm sorry it took me this long to…acknowledge the problem."

Harry grunted, "Long as we keep it from killing any of us, I'll be content."

There wasn't any real way to respond to that. So Pyrrha folded her hands in her lap and looked out the window again. Awkward silence was a very close companion for the rest of the journey.

* * *

They finally arrived at what Harry called the 'Gold Coast Area' a few minutes later. According to him and Murphy, it was where Chicago's Elite were most likely to live, and as a result, it was a very clean and pristine neighborhood. Pyrrha almost felt at home seeing the fancy buildings and general cleanliness of the neighborhood.

Before she moved to Beacon, her fame and sponsorships had won her and her mother quite a few variety of options to live. One such place had been among the upper class in Mistral. It was short lived, of course, but the familiarity was comforting to her.

They parked in front of several apartment complexes, and exited the Blue Beetle. Pyrrha readjusted her tiara, and looked up at the buildings, "So, this is where your friend lives?"

"Cabrini Green Housing Complex," Harry said. He pulled his staff out from the car and shut the door. "Not where Thomas lives. He's across the street."

Pyrrha looked across the street. A low slung apartment was directly across from them. It had that 'modern' look that made its actual age hard to measure. If Pyrrha had to guess, the building could've been anywhere from several decades old, to only a handful of years. A small parking garage sunk into the ground beside it, probably where tenants could park.

"It's very nice," Pyrrha noted.

"Don't tell Thomas that," Harry grumbled. "His head's big enough as is. Come on, we're wasting daylight."

Pyrrha tapped her fingers together, "Er, right. Of course!" and followed Harry.

The three of them crossed the street to the apartment and stopped at a row of intercoms outside the entrance. Harry tried one, but his friend didn't answer. He frowned, and they walked inside. They quickly passed through the lobby (the woman in charge glared at Harry the entire way) and took an elevator to the floor Thomas was on. The hall was as crisp and modern as the outside of the building, and Harry lead them to one of the apartments.

He knocked three times, probably harder than he should've, and yelled, "Thomas, open up! It's Harry!"

Instantly, there was a ruckus from inside the apartment, something solid thumping on the ground. Muffled voices could be heard, followed by footsteps. Harry pinched the bridge of his nose and started silently cursing. Pyrrha folded her hands behind her back and made sure she looked decent. She was still dressed in the rags of her old outfit, but the sweater hid most of it. She wouldn't break any laws, anyway.

Beside her, Murphy was frowning in thought, looking from the door to to Pyrrha in back again. The short woman's eyes shot open, "Shit, Harry!"

"What?"

Whatever Murphy had been about to say were cut off when the door opened, and… And suddenly, nothing else in the world mattered.

Thomas was about the same height as Pyrrha, maybe slightly taller, and he was…Gorgeous.

Six feet of pure, holy beauty, he was a living statue carved from marble. His eyes were an intense blue-gray, flecked with a stunning silver that shimmered under the light. His hair was a deep luxurious black that fell to his shoulders, his face pure perfection. He wore only a pair of black slacks that loosely hung from his hips, exposing his torso to the air. Pyrrha unashamedly ate up the sight of this man with no regards for common decency.

It was odd too, because Pyrrha had seen other men with similar physiques. But there was something… Striking about Thomas, an allure to him. He had a confidence, a posture that radiated… so many things that made Pyrrha tremble with excitement.

His eyes flicked to her once, and that was it. They beckoned her, called for her. Who was she to refuse him? A little fun, a little excitement. No, not a little, a lot. Any time with Thomas would be absolutely unforgettable. Best to get start-

Someone slapped Pyrrha, hard. The world spun, and lights flashed in her eyes. Next thing she became aware of, she was collapsed against a wall, and her cheek stung. Murphy was kneeling in front of her, snapping her fingers in front of her eyes and saying something.

Pyrrha's ears were still ringing, but she managed to understand the muffled words. "Pyrrha? Pyrrha, are you there?"

"I'm here, I'm here," is what Pyrrha tried to say.

It came out as "Isahesohot…"

She shook her head once and blinked, "I-I mean…y-yeah. Yeah, I'm here."

Murphy sighed in relief, "Oh thank god."

Which was immediately followed by her glaring at Harry, who was glaring at Thomas, who still looked good enough to eat. Only less so, somehow. Pyrrha closed her eyes and spent a moment gathering her senses while they quietly argued.

"What the hell was that, Thomas!?"

"You were the one that brought a pretty young virgin with no warning Harry. What did you expect to happen?"

Pyrrha trembled at Thomas's voice. Every romance movie, every actor, every person she'd ever felt an attraction too, Thomas had them beat by a mile. Her entire body reacted every time he spoke.

"I didn't expect you to hit her with a full blast of the 'come hither' when you opened the door!" Harry hissed.

Thomas sighed, "Well, you caught me at an… awkward time Harry."

The two men continued to argue, while Pyrrha felt something warm and soft get shoved into her arms. She opened her eyes and saw Murphy handing her the sweater she'd been wearing. And her sneakers too. Pyrrha gulped and looked down at herself. Her blouse was completely unbuttoned and her tights lay on the floor. Murphy handed those to her too.

"Get dressed and wait in the lobby," Murphy ordered. Her features were surprisingly calm. Pyrrha ducked her burning face and made a noise of agreement.

Without another word, she got up and quickly rushed out of sight, before the sight of Thomas made her do something even more stupid and reckless.

The moment Pyrrha was out of sight, Murphy spun on her heel and delivered a single slap to Thomas and to Harry. Not as in she slapped Thomas and then Harry. No, she slapped Thomas, kept going, and slapped Harry. She even had to stand on her tiptoes to do it.

Harry rubbed his cheek, "Okay, yeah, I deserved that."

"Damn right you did," Murphy said, glaring at Thomas while she said it.

Thomas sighed, still rubbing his cheek, and bowed his head, "Sorry Murphy. You guys really did catch us at a bad time."

"Us?"

The man jerked his head inside, "Justine. And a guest. We were… busy."

"Which is why you wouldn't pick up your phone," Harry rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand. "Damn it, I'm off my game today."

"Yeah, I can tell." Thomas crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame. "So, what gives?"

Harry sighed and waved a hand in the air. "Marcone just dragged me into his office and saddled me with a case. Turns out a bunch of monsters from another dimension are running amok ruining his and Lara's businesses by killing everyone that works there. And if we don't figure out how to stop them, innocent people will start dying next."

"So, business as usual then?"

"Seems like it." Harry said.

Thomas nodded and frowned. "So you came here to ask if I had heard anything about the attacks, and, barring that, wanted me to play tag-a-long when you went to go interrogate my sister?"

"Pretty much."

Thomas stood up and pulled his slacks up, "Right then, give me a few minutes to get my stuff together. I'll meet you in the garage."

They departed, leaving Thomas to his preparations while looking for Pyrrha. They found her by the elevator, right as she was tying her shoe back into place. She didn't look up at them, just kept tying her shoe.

"I didn't mean to do that," she said, before Harry could get a word in. "There was just… something about him. I saw him and everything else just…"

Pyrrha released her shoe and made a strangled sound. "I don't know what's wrong with me, but ever since I got here, everything just keeps blind siding me and I'm… I'm not this weak, I swear!"

Murphy sent Harry a glare. He nodded and sat next to Pyrrha. "It's not your fault here either Pyrrha. There's a lot in the supernatural world that you just don't know about. Most people don't know about it, hell, I've been at this game for almost three decades now and I still don't know even a sliver of what there is to know. But what happened there… That was all on me."

Pyrrha glanced up at Harry. Her face was still burning scarlet, but at least she hadn't broken into tears. That was a start.

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Harry said. "Thomas isn't really human. Well, he is, but he's not just a human. He's a vampire of the White Court."

"You're friends with a…vampire?" Pyrrha raised an eyebrow.

Harry shrugged, "Yeah. He's not your typical blood sucking fiend. White Courts feed off human emotion. Fear, anger… lust."

Pyrrha's blush returned, "Ah… so that's… normal?"

"I don't think there's a woman alive who doesn't feel something when Thomas is around," Murphy said. "A few men too."

Both Harry and Murphy looked serious. So Pyrrha straightened up a little and took a deep breath, "Ah. Well then I suppose there's nothing to be ashamed of, is there? I was afraid I'd lost control of myself for a moment."

Harry chuckled, "No, you're fine. Just try not to stare into his eyes, and think clean thoughts, and you should be able to resist his whole 'come hither' aura he puts off."

"Or I could just turn it off," Thomas said. Everyone jumped, and the vampire smirked. He wore those same black slacks, and a pair of expensive loafers. A white button down shirt covered his chest, and he wore a black jacket over it. The bulge of a pistol was still noticeable beneath it.

"Damn it Thomas, don't you know you're not supposed to sneak up on a Wizard?" Harry demanded.

Thomas crossed his arms, "Whatever. We about ready to head out?"

"Yeah, we're good."

Nodding at that, Thomas extended a hand to Pyrrha. "Sorry about that incident. You caught me at an awkward time Miss… Pyrrha, is it?"

Pyrrha looked from his hand to his face. The silver flecks in his eyes were gone, leaving them a calmer stormy gray. His entire being, in fact, had seemed to change. While he was certainly handsome, he didn't end all thought processes in her mind when she looked at him. So, Pyrrha reached out for his hand.

"It's Pyrrha Nikos, yes." She said as she took his hand.

And it promptly exploded into white hot fire.

"Jesus Christ!" Murphy shouted, and jumped back. Thomas staggered back and bit back a scream of pain.

Pyrrha's eyes doubled in horror, "Oh no! I didn't-what-how- I'm sorry!"

Thomas, still gritting his teeth, shook his hand a few times until the flames went out. Where Pyrrha had gripped his hand, the flesh was blackened and deformed, like melted plastic. Even more disturbing, Pyrrha could see his flesh actually _boiling_ as it started to pull itself back together. She felt queasy just looking at it.

Thomas glared at Harry while his hand reassembled itself. "So not only is she a virgin, but she's protected by an act of true love, thanks Harry."

"Wait, I thought that couldn't be a thing if someone hadn't…" Harry shrugged, "Ya know."

"All it takes is an act of true love. Doesn't necessarily need to be sex," Thomas winced and shoved his hand into his coat. "And apparently, Ms. Niko's has a _very_ strong relationship with someone, somewhere."

All eyes turned to Pyrrha. More blushing ensued, and she brushed some hair out of her eyes, "Oh… I don't really know if… Well I do have a close friend on my team, our captain really but we've… Never really done anything… it's not… I mean."

"Okay, that's enough," Murphy interrupted, to Pyrrha's immense relief. "Point is, you're protected by that now. Which means even if a White Court Vampire wanted to feed on you, they can't touch you. Talk about a lucky break."

Maybe it was to Murphy, but Pyrrha's mind was racing at the thought. She cared for Jaune, she'd even been with him at the dance, but their relationship had been in a gray area last she could remember. She would most certainly like to spend more time with that awkward, nerdy, kind, caring, and handsome dork, but they hadn't had time to really talk about it, what with the tournament and all. Now she really couldn't talk to him about it…

But if what Murphy and Thomas said had any lick of truth, then maybe they were meant to be. The thought made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. She definitely had an even greater motivation to get home as soon as possible.

"Lucky break or not," Harry's voice shook her from her daydreaming. "We need to get moving. We've spent a lot of time dawdling, and I'd rather get to Raith's mansion before sundown."

Thomas held up a pair of keys and grinned, "I'm driving."

* * *

They didn't take Harry's Beetle when they left, they took Thomas's car instead. Unlike Harry, he drove a colossal boxy white vehicle called a Hummer. In Pyrrha's opinion, it was much nicer than the Beetle. Even though she had to sit in the back seat, there was a lot more leg room when compared to the Beetle. She was content with it.

They drove along the freeway for some time, leaving Chicago behind them. According to Harry, Lara Raith (Who was, apparently, Thomas's older sibling) had a mansion just outside of Chicago along the big lake they called Lake Michigan. The creativity of this world never failed to underwhelm Pyrrha. Though perhaps she couldn't be too judgmental, after all, one of her friends was literally named after a fancy rock.

While they drove, Harry filled Thomas in on what he'd missed. Him rescuing Pyrrha, the Grimm, and what exactly was at stake if things took a nosedive in the next few days. Thomas, surprisingly, took it all in stride. He seemed to have experience with things like this.

"So, if I'm understanding this right," he said, when Harry finished explaining, "is that, we have an army of monsters pouring into Chicago, that feed off negative emotions, are seemingly endless in number, killing the crime families in charge of Chicago, and you've been hired to deal with them. Oh, and we have a girl from the same dimension who was training for a day job in slaying said monsters. Is that about right?"

"Well, when you put it like that it sounds absolutely stupid," Harry deadpanned.

Thomas chuckled, "Well, it wouldn't be you if it wasn't absolutely insane. Though, this brings up a pretty big question."

"And that'd be?"

Pyrrha felt, rather than saw, Thomas's eyes on her. "Is the girl an Outsider, if she's not from here?"

She blinked and looked at Murphy, "What's an Outsider?" she whispered.

"Evil magic-immune eldritch abomination. Want to wipe out the planet. Basically like Grimm, but a lot stronger."

Pyrrha gulped at that. "Well that's… not good."

Harry's voice was loud from up front, addressing everyone, "I don't think Pyrrha counts as an Outsider. Neither do the Grimm. I think how it works is that, we have individual worlds in their own… bubble, I guess you could call it, or a sphere of influence. Each one has its own worlds and people that obey that worlds laws of reality. The Outsiders live between those worlds, again this is just a theory, and have decided ours would be the tastiest to take a bite out of. That, or the easiest."

"There's a comforting thought." Thomas deadpanned.

Harry shrugged, "You asked man."

"So what happens if these Grimm do wipe out the crime families?"

Harry jerked a thumb at Pyrrha, "Ask her. She's the closest thing to a Grimm expert we have. I'm just parroting what she's told me."

"Okay," Thomas looked at her in his rear view mirror. Pyrrha was in the third row seat with Murphy, by Thomas's request. If she was too close, a strand of her hair might touch him, and while he wasn't in a 'feeding mood' anymore, he'd rather be safe than sorry.

"So what happens if the Grimm do what I just said?" he repeated.

Pyrrha felt the faint smile on her face fade. "If they break through in numbers, you will have no Hunters or Huntresses to defend your world. They will crash over Chicago in an endless tide of death and destruction until every human is either gone, or dead. They won't stop and they won't rest until humanity is wiped from the planet."

Silence reigned. Thomas slowly swallowed and returned his eyes to the road. When he spoke, his voice was more solemn. "So you're saying it'd be bad."

"Yes. Very."

"Talk about motivation." Thomas muttered.

The drive fell silent after that. They cruised next to Lake Michigan, the vibrant colors and hues of the sun reflecting off the lake were a stark contrast to the sour mood that had overwhelmed the hummer. Pyrrha hated being overly negative, but when it came to the Grimm, there was no sugarcoating it. They would overwhelm this world, this 'Earth' in days or weeks if given the chance. They'd need to nip the problem at the bud if they wanted a chance to survive.

That was why they were going to Lara's, to gather any information that Marcone didn't give them, and find a possible source to the Grimm incursions. The list of locations Marcone had left in the Beetle was a start, but Lara had more experience with the Grimm and thus would have more intel for them.

All of that said, the Raith estate was… something else.

They arrived mid-afternoon and Pyrrha thought they had parked in front of an old castle from the days before Dust had become widely available to the people of Remnant. It was several stories tall, with many wings branching from the base and a few faux-castle turrets. Cornices and gargoyles dotted the estates façade, and a grand stone wall lined with barbed wire and security cameras surrounded it.

Perhaps a 'neo-castle' would've been more appropriate. Pyrrha looked at the building in surprise, "Wow, its nearly as big as the Beacon."

"Um, thanks?" Thomas said. They rolled to a stop on the street in front of the towering estate. The entrance was plainly visible, guarded by an iron gate with a security checkpoint.

"It was the academy she trained at," Harry explained while grabbing his gear.

"Ah."

The two men started to get out. Pyrrha did the same, but Harry stopped her with a look. "Stay out here Pyrrha. I'd rather not let Lara learn about your presence if we can avoid it. Plus, given your reaction to Thomas…"

Pyrrha fell back into her seat, "Ah. I understand. Wait out here then?"

Harry nodded, "Yep. Shouldn't take more than ten or fifteen minutes. But, Murphy, if we're not back in thirty minutes, I want you to leave and get back up."

"Right." Murphy clambered into the front seat. Thomas tossed her the keys and she caught them without looking using her good arm. "Good luck Harry. And be careful."

He shot her a lazy smile, "Hey, come on, its me."

With that, he shut the door and the two men walked down the driveway towards the Raith Estate, leaving Murphy and Pyrrha alone in the Hummer. After a minute of silence, Murphy said, "So, got any good stories?"

 **A/N: An apology to all my followers for missing my Saturday update. I had yardwork and lots of family time over the weekend, coupled with a bad cold that's only just now hitting its stride. I think I can update on Thursday though, so I will try to keep to the schedule.**

 **Speaking of though, next chapter will be what I call 'A Dresden File'! See, its a pun because... Nevermind. What a Dresden File will entail is a perspective shift to Harry's traditional First person smartassery. It'll last one or two chapters at most, before switching back to limited third person omniscience with Pyrrha. I don't intend on using it often, but I will provide a headsup before I post one, so no one is caught off guard.**

 **Now, onto other news, we've hit over 2,500 views and almost fifty reviews! In less than a month! You guys are amazing, and I really don't know what I'd be doing without you. Probably something productive, but who knows! Onto questions!**

 **ww1990ww returns and asks: Will we be seeing Uriel in the future?**

 **Sorry, but the future looks dark right now. Uriel might appear later down the line, but I wouldn't hold my breath. But, if the Knights of the Cross get involved, well...**

 **And that's really the only real question to answer. Remember, any questions I will publicly answer for you next update, so don't be shy. Or heck, just leave a review with critique or comments, I FEED off your reviews! Not kidding.**

 **Oh, and minor detail, I'm looking for a Beta Reader, so possible candidates that're interested, shoot a PM my way and we'll talk. Otherwise, hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **Ta-ta for now!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"So, the girl is… interesting." Said Thomas, my half-brother.

Yeah, long story there, but to keep it simple, I don't have what could be described as a 'healthy' family life. Thomas was my mother's son, his father the head honcho of House Raith, the reigning rulers of the White Court vampires. We'd met a few years back at a party, and Thomas had saved my ass a few times.

In return, I helped him on a case involving a trio of porn star sorceress's. Long story, that one.

During the case, he revealed our relationship, and I Soulgazed him, learning that he was telling the truth, and receiving a message from our mother. Since then, I've been careful to keep our relations secret. If the White Council ever found out about Thomas, they'd throw me in the deepest, darkest dungeon they could find. Then they'd execute me.

Just another day in the life of Harry Dresden, I suppose.

My staff thumped the ground in rhythm with my stride. I didn't look up at Thomas, but I did send him an affirmatory grunt. He glanced back at that monster he calls a car, and he frowned. "We're sure she's legit?"

"Yeah, we're sure," I said.

"I Soulgazed her myself. At the very least, we can trust her."

Thomas remained unconvinced, the stubborn jerk, but kept his comments to himself. We'd reached the checkpoint that would let us into Casa de Raith, and he had pulled a fancy looking wallet from those designer slacks he wore.

The guard was looking at Thomas's ID, leaning out from his post to do it. It was your standard security checkpoint, big windows, a lone office, and a tiny little crossing bar that was insurmountable as a speedbump. It was obviously more for show than to actually keep intruders out. Anyone dumb enough to attack a White Court nest deserved what came to them.

Which said a lot about me, come to think of it.

The guard was one of those thuggish types, real tall, wide shoulders, and a military style haircut. You know, the kind hired more for their intimidation factor and skill with a gun, than for their critical analysis skills. He stared at Thomas's ID for several moments, then said, "I'm… sorry Mr. Raith, but your sister has made it quite clear that there are no visitors allowed on the grounds."

Thomas rolled his eyes and put the ID away, "I'm not a visitor. This is one of my homes. Are you really trying to deny me entrance to my own home?"

"…Um…maybe?"

Wow.

"Right then," Thomas said, and stepped under the crossing bar. "Harry, come on. This clown will only slow us down."

"W-wait, sir!" the guard called.

I stepped over the crossing bar, "Just sit and wait, Buzz. Trust me, it'll save us all a big headache."

We left him standing there stuttering indignantly. It wasn't really like Lara to hire dumb muscle like that. She preferred hiring smarter, more able minded men. They might be more likely to ask questions, but if they were asking questions, that meant they could be smart enough to deal with whatever might try and threaten her. Obviously Buzz was not of that breed, which raised all sorts of juicy questions to pester Lara about.

So I was in a bit of a pissy mood. It hadn't exactly been a smooth day for me, and if a few people had to suffer my snark, so be it.

Thomas and I walked up the unnecessarily fancy walkway to the Raith Mansion. From the outside, the walls in particular, it had the look of an almost ancient castle built to withstand the test of time. Behind those walls those, it looked more like one of those old Victorian style estates. Rolling hills of green, rows and rows of rose bushes, and a homey little stone pathway up to the front door.

A pair of guards opened the doors for us and ushered us inside. The Raith household had recovered nicely since the last time I had been there. A Skinwalker, a terrifyingly powerful monster with equally terrifying methods, had assaulted the manor to get at me, and left the building a wreck. Looking at all the fancy custom carve woodworking, the statues, the fountains, the paintings, and the unmarred hardwood floors, you'd never have guessed that a near literal war had been waged there. Though, that had been almost five years ago.

That wasn't the only thing that changed. As we walked, I leaned over to Thomas and said, "Notice anything different about your house?"

"Yeah," he replied, in a hushed tone. "Guard numbers have tripled since the last time I was here."

"Seems like someone is feeling a bit paranoid," I mused.

Thomas nodded in agreement, "Related to those Grimm attacks?"

"Has to be. That, or the Fomor are really stepping up their game."

The Fomor, for those that don't know, are a bunch of old Fae creatures from the Nevernever that the Summer and Winter Fae banished to the sea a long time ago. They mostly lurked in the background for a few centuries, but after the Red Courts were wiped out, they've come back to try and fill the void. Emphasis on try.

While other parts of the country were feeling their grip, Lara and Marcone had formed an alliance of sorts to keep the Fomor out of Chicago. Save for a few incursions, it had worked too. I think me making my big comeback probably convinced them Chicago wasn't worth the trouble, because no one's seen them in the area since.

Fine by me, I don't need to deal with a bunch of Cthulu wannabes, especially if the Grimm were going to move up on their turf now. Trade one problem for another, but it's still a damn problem.

We headed to the wing where Lara kept her business space, a much cooler and practical design in comparison to the rest of the estate. This was where most of the Skinwalkers rampage had gone on and it showed. Most of the paintings that had survived were gone, the flooring and paneling were replaced with cheap substitutes of drywall and linoleum, and the lights were pure florescent.

There were also dozens of guards. That's not hyperbole, there were at least three dozen guards stationed at hallways, doorways, bathrooms; And those were just the ones I could see. That pretty much confirmed what we knew. The Grimm were attacking Lara as much if not more than Marcone, and from the looks of things, it had her paranoid as hell.

Naturally, knowing exactly how paranoid and on edge Lara would be, I decided to enter her office (Top floor, another dozen guards, Thomas was my key in) by slamming open the door and letting out a shout of "Honey, I'm h-

I was smart enough to have my shield up before I threw the door open, because three bullets bounced off it and left neat little holes in the ground. Lara Raith stood at her desk, a smoking gun in her hand, and her eyes wide and glowing silver. She looked less like a stressed woman, and more like a caged animal ready to strike at the slightest provocation. Sorry, she _did_ strike at the slightest provocation.

When she saw me though, still standing there unharmed, with Thomas behind me, the silver in her eyes faded. The animalistic paranoia vanished behind that familiar veil of intelligence and humor she carried herself with. But I could see the tenseness in her posture. Lara was very good at hiding how she felt, but I'd seen her in many different situations, and I knew her tics.

While she'd never admit it, Lara was, if anything, nervous about her situation. How very interesting.

Lara slowly settled back behind her big oak desk and let out a sigh. She brushed her hair back into the tight bun her sudden motion had ruined, and fixed me with a glare. I smiled at her in return.

"You seem a bit stressed Lara. Business ain't boomin as usual?"

Lara set the gun on the desk, still pointed at me, and said, "Dresden, Marcone informed me of your involvement in the situation. I am in no mood for games today. Sit, and I'll give you the information you need."

I raised a brow, but decided not to push her smartass tolerance. Straightforward help from a supernatural entity was an exceptionally rare thing. I could count the number of times I'd been given such help on one hand. If Lara was willing to provide this information without her usual game of cat and mouse, obviously she was in worse shape than usual.

So I sat in one of two chairs set before her desk. Thomas took the other one on my left, and shared a nod with his sister. Lara folded her hands on her desk and gave me a level look.

"So, Dresden, what do you know so far?"

I scratched my head with my staff and started listing things, "Well one, that you and Marcone are under attack from a bunch of monsters that may or may not be monsters from the Nevernever for the past week. Two, you were hit first. Three, it's been random and without any seemingly predictable pattern, and four, you've been assembling strike teams to handle them and have hidden the attacks from Mortals for reasons I don't know."

Lara closed her eyes and slowly nodded, "So you know most of what has happened. Good. But, there are key details Marcone does not know, that I'll enlighten you on, Dresden."

I stopped scratching my head. "Oh? Like what?"

"One, that these monsters have not been attacking for a week." She let the statement hang in the air.

Beside me, Thomas leaned forward a little, "Lara, how long have they been attacking?"

She opened one, light grey eye at Thomas. "Four weeks tomorrow. Nearly a month."

"A-a month?" Thomas kept his voice low. I stared at Lara in surprise. I'll admit, I hadn't seen the Grimm in action much, just the one time the previous night. Earlier that day didn't count because of what I had… Seen. Still, I found it surprising that Lara had managed to hide the existence of the attacks for a month.

She nodded slowly. "Yes. A month. They began slow, striking in groups of one or two. Certainly surprising and causing minor property damage, but manageable. But…"

"Let me guess, the attacks are growing more and more ferocious every day, and you can't manage them anymore."

Lara's gaze turned icy. "I would not say such things if I were you, Wizard." She hissed.

I shrugged, "Then what would you say?"

"That these monsters have grown into enough of a threat that managing them in secret is simply no longer possible. My people tell me that if they expand at the rate they are, we will be facing a war of survival within two weeks. At the maximum."

I whistled. Those were impressive numbers, and not exactly untrue, if what Pyrrha had said was true. Yet more incentive to find the portals these things were coming through, and slam it in their faces.

"So you're saying I actually have time," I said.

"You have time, but know that with each passing day, things will grow significantly more…dangerous. These shadow creatures will spill into the streets eventually. The masquerade will shatter, and there will be widespread panic across the city. I don't need to tell you how that would end, do I, Dresden?"

No she did not. Grimm were attracted to negative emotions, and if the citizens of Chicago saw an army of werewolf-like shadow monsters bursting onto the street, it'd be utter anarchy. That much hysteria would whip them into a feeding frenzy.

I shook my head, "No ma'am. What else do you have for me?"

"We've discovered that the monsters are attracted to those in panic. They single them out and go for the kill. They are predators at heart, with no external intelligence to guide them."

Knew that already. I nodded though, acting like this was new information. "So I should think happy thoughts if I come across anymore, got it. Is that it?"

"One more thing," Lara said. She reached into her desk and produced a manila envelope that she passed to me.

I opened it and shook out several pictures and a piece of paper with an address on it. The pictures were of a redheaded man of average height, dressed in a white business suit with a friggen bowler hat and cane. He looked like a real Clockwork Orange wannabe.

I raised a brow, "Okay, and this means?"

"His name is Roman Torchwick," Lara explained, "And he appeared from seemingly nowhere several weeks before the attacks began. He is an arms dealer, and was in dealings with my family until the attacks worsened. He sold us a new weapon he claimed would revolutionize the battlefield. He cut contact with us when the attacks got worse. We have no idea how it works."

I passed the photos to Thomas for him to look at, and considered Lara carefully. "So you've bought some already? And you think he might have a hand in these attacks?"

Lara sighed and grabbed a vial off her desk. It looked like one of those decorative bottles office types like to use to help spruce up the cage that was corporate America, and was filled with a bright red dust. The sandy substance almost seemed to glow when Lara touched it.

"This is what he sold to us. He calls it 'Dust' and gave us these as, in his own words, 'free samples'. And yes, I do believe he has a hand in them Dresden. His appearance in time with the monsters would be quite a coincidence otherwise, and I do not take stock in such things."

"Eh, fair enough," I shrugged, and held out my hand.

"Care to lend me that bottle? If the guy's not at the address, maybe I can use that as a focus for a tracking spell."

Lara tossed it to me underhand, and I pocketed it away. I'd ask Pyrrha about this 'Dust' stuff later. Though at this point, it looked like Lara had no other information for us. I stood with Thomas and gave a slight bow of my head.

"Thank you for your hospitality Lara. I'll see what I can do about your monster problem."

She smiled faintly, "Of that, I am certain, Dresden. Oh, and rest assured that I have one of my secretaries waiting for you at the exit. She will provide you with a list of our facilities that have been hit. And the casualty report, if such a thing interests you."

We left Lara at her desk and returned to the hummer. True to her word, a cute young secretary was waiting for us at the front door and handed me a list. I scanned it as we walked, and felt my skin crawl. The list was roughly two pages of address after address. The Grimm had been very busy, and Lara had managed to keep it all hidden. I wasn't sure which was scarier.

The casualty list wasn't much better, though it was surprisingly short given the number of establishments hit. That was a surprise, but I suppose it made sense. The White Courts at their core where predators, very territorial predators. They hated it when someone tried to intrude on that territory. Which dulled my surprise when I saw the last name on the list.

"Thomas, take a look," I passed him the list.

He scanned it and closed his eyes when he reached the bottom. "So, Natalia bit the dust."

Thomas had a lot of siblings, and I'd only ever met a handful of them. Natalia had been one of three Raith sisters (Including Lara) at the manor when the Skinwalker attacked. She'd been tall and muscular in comparison to her shorter and more traditionally attractive sisters. She put up a fight like the rest and got taken down for her trouble. And now she was dead.

"You gonna be alright?" I asked him.

Thomas passed back the list. "Yeah. I didn't know Natalia all that well, what with being the runt and all. But she's still family, and it's always hard when…"

He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to. Thomas and I both had our share of losses when it came to family. Our mother died on the day I was born, and my dad died six years later. Thomas didn't have as much family he cared about, but he did care about them either way. It's this irrational compulsion we all feel, a little theory I call 'familial dementia'. Makes us feel and act stupid towards those we're related to, even if we can't stand them. The old saying goes that blood is thicker than water, and its right. For the most part.

I can't count the number of times I've put my neck on the line for Thomas just because he was my brother. He could probably say the same thing. We were the only real family we had left, the only ones who could relate to each other. But, I sometimes forgot that Thomas had other members of his family, even if he was conflicted about them.

Thomas straightened his stride, "Don't worry about me man, I'll be fine. All this did was make it personal."

On that somber note, we reached Thomas's hummer and opened the doors to… Well, ever seen those ridiculous eighties movies? The ones where, when girls are left alone they tend to gossip and giggle like mad? Yeah, it was a scene straight out of one of those movies.

Karrin had moved from front seat onto the second row seat across from Pyrrha. Both girls were cross-legged and… giggling!

I had to do a double take just to make sure I hadn't completely lost it. Karrin does a lot of things, but giggling? That's just not her!

"Y-you're kidding. An actual dress?" Karrin laughed.

Pyrrha, who was probably the happiest I'd seen her since I met the girl, nodded, "He said 'An Arc always keeps his word' so he wore a full pink fluffy dress!"

More laughter from Karrin, "T-that is-"

I coughed into my fist and the laughter shut off immediately. Karrin looked like a dear caught in the headlights. "O-oh, Harry! You're back."

"Yep. Seems like you two have been getting along…well."

Pyrrha blushed, "Ah, well, you know. Just…trading stories."

"She's got some good ones," Karrin added, and chuckled.

"You two done playing gossip girl?" Thomas asked. He sat back in the driver's seat

They both sighed and settled into their seats. That seemed to please Thomas, and he started the hummer up. Once we were on the road, Karrin asked, "What did Lara have for you?"

I relayed everything Lara had shared with us, the length of the attacks, their increased frequency, and the list of attacked residents. As I had expected, Pyrrha confirmed that the attacks probably targeted her due to the negative emotions that would surround her operations.

"Erm, no offense Thomas," she added.

"None taken," he grunted.

I tossed the pictures back to Pyrrha and said, "She also told us this guy's been going around selling some sort of new weapon to all the criminals in Chicago. Goes by the name-"

"Roman Torchwick, I know this man," Pyrrha finished.

We all looked at her, save Thomas, and she shrugged, "Back home he was the most wanted man in Vale. Ran most of the crime there and drove Dust prices through the roof. Last I heard though, the Atlas Military had him locked away."

Now there was some new information. I reached into my coat and held up the vial of red sand for her to see. "Pyrrha, when you say Dust, do you mean this?"

Her eyes widened into dinner plates, and her face went pale, "Um, yes. Now Harry, please put that down very carefully."

I raised a brow, "Why?"

"Because if you are not careful, one wrong move could send this entire car up in flames."

Thomas noticeably stiffened next to me, and Karrin scooted farther from the vial. I sat there like an idiot, making no move at all. Pyrrha offered her hand, and I very carefully gave it to her. I had no idea how the stuff worked, and wasn't going to be known as the wizard that blew himself up with high explosives. At least, not in a car full of my friends.

Pyrrha brought the vial close to herself and let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you. I'm going to assume that Dust isn't common in your world?"

"Well I'm pretty sure dust is everywhere," Karrin deadpanned.

"Not dust, Dust." Pyrrha emphasized.

"No, its not." I said. "In fact, I've never heard of the stuff until today."

A curious look passed over her face, "How… odd. What powers your cities then? Moves the car? How do your weapons work?"

"Fossil fuels and gunpowder," said Karrin. "Tends to be the major factor anyway. You telling me that a tiny vial like that could power a city?"

Pyrrha laughed at that, "No, not this little. But Dust is what has protected us from the Grimm for as long as we remember. Our weapons and technology our all powered by Dust to some degree, and Hunters like myself use them in our weapons. I have a friend at Beacon who specializes in using Dust as part of her standard fighting style. That's why I thought you were a Hunter at first, Harry."

I raised an inquisitive brow at that, "So you're saying that Dust stuff is basically a super-mineral? And can do magic?"

"Basically," Pyrrha shrugged. "Though I wouldn't call it magic, just a natural reaction. We don't fully understand Dust yet, but we know how to utilize it."

"Okay, neat and all," Thomas interjected, "But shouldn't we be more worried about the bomb in my car?"

"Don't worry," she assured us, "in the hands of a capable huntress, Dust can be kept nonvolatile until its needed in combat. Only a novice, or a person without an aura could risk setting it off."

I sighed and sunk back into my seat, "Well great. We're safe, but now Lara and possibly Marcone have access to a superweapon they know nothing about, and no real way to control. Fantastic."

So, recap. An interdimensional invasion by soulless monsters that only a handful of people were aware of, two weeks to find and stop whatever was sending them through before mass panic overtook the city, and to top it all off, a new miracle weapon that would probably just amplify the chaos, instead of stopping it. Perfect.

"So what's the plan Harry?" Karrin asked.

I sighed and looked at the address to Torchwick's apartment. "Well, I guess we're heading for a stake out folks."

Pyrrha's stomach let out a rumbling moan that all but shook the car. She covered her stomach and blushed. I grinned, "After we stop for lunch, that is."

* * *

 **A/N: I am back guys with another chapter. As promised, it was either thursday or saturday when this thing would come out. My cold has been kicking my ass these past few days, so I had to push it back. Its starting to recede now, so _hopefully,_ I can start being consistent again. I make no promises though. **

**Anyway, sorry if the chapter itself is either short or kinda shoddy. I plan on going back and rewriting this and the previous chapter as I'm not happy with them. I'll update you when that happens.**

 **On to questions:**

 **Sociopathic-Antichrist asks: Who would win, Harry or Pyrrha?**

 **Thats situational. If they're both at the top of their game in an open arena? Harry, for sure. He has range on his side and much more experience fighting people leagues above him. But, in a smaller space, I'd go for Pyrrha, because she's probably the best hand to hand fighter he'll ever meet.**

 **Next, is more of a comment than question, but I feel it needs to be addressed. ww1990ww (Hello again) says: Grimm invasion... will never happen. Mab would rather murder Grimm personally then allow this.**

 **You are correct my dear reader. But I believe you're assuming far too much with far too little information. Who says that Mab doesn't already know, and hasn't taken steps to counter it?**

 **Moving on, I received several messages (Including two repeats, thank you Walrus Puncher) calling me out for Thomas having such an effect on Pyrrha despite her protection of true love. In response to this I simply have this to say. Even when under the protection of true love, Harry had a _very_ hard time remaining focused when another White Court was in the room. Arturo (The man they cited as being immune due to true love) was likely immune for more than just true love. Not only was he protected by true loves touch, but he's also A) a porn director, so he has seen plenty of beautiful women in more detail than most men ever will, and B) is with his beloved who was with him all the time. **

**Pyrrha and Harry on the other hand did not, and Pyrrha has the double whammy of being a virgin who met Thomas while he was still feeding. Needless to say though, such a scene will not happen with her again, as she knows what to expect and will be braced in case it does happen.**

 **Once more, moving on to our last question, Z.R. Stein asked: What did Harry see during his Soulgaze with Pyrrha?**

 **That is strictly confidential. What Harry saw when he soulgazed her, and what he saw the Grimm as will never be revealed. I find it better for the audience if they're left to fill in the blanks there, because whatever they come up with would scare them on a more personal level than anything I could create. As the old saying goes, Nothing is scarier.**

 **Welp, thats all the time and energy I have for today folks, hopefully I'll recover enough to get back on a proper schedule, and we'll be able to enjoy a fun over the top fight scene next time.**

 **Ta-ta for now!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Pyrrha woke in a daze.

She was laying in the back of Thomas's hummer in the third row seat and felt very stiff. Voices could be heard in the background, but they were very dull and stuffy, like she was listening to them through a wall. It took her a moment to realize that was because her head was sandwiched between a pillow and the soft leather seats of the truck. She pushed the pillow off her head and sat up.

Almost immediately she regretted it when a pit promptly fell into her gut. Pyrrha covered her stomach and groaned. That got the attention of the others, and Murphy poked her head over the second row seat.

An amused smile spread over her face, "Sleeping beauty's awake Harry."

Pyrrha rubbed her eyes while someone, probably Harry or Thomas, laughed in the front seat. "Ugh, what happened?"

Murphy pointed down at the floor between their seats. Pyrrha followed her gaze and gasped. A dozen fastfood wrappers, all of them labelled 'Burger King' lay in piles on the floor with two empty drinks and barren boxes of fries. Her stomach made a noise of complaint, and Pyrrha blushed.

"Oh…now I remember."

Murphy laughed, "I can't say I've ever seen anyone dive into their food so fast before, but you definitely set a record. It was like you hadn't eaten in months."

After Harry got the information he needed, they'd stopped for food as neither he nor Pyrrha had had a chance to eat breakfast that morning. Pyrrha had been insistent that she would be fine, but the complaints died in that first round. Most of what happened after Harry handed her a burger was a blur. What Pyrrha did remember was that they had to turn back for her and pick up several more meals, which she promptly devoured with great gusto.

Upon finishing the last burger, she had simply shut down into a food coma. Apparently they'd continued on while she was asleep, as she recognized the neighborhood. They were parked by Thomas's apartment again, and the two men were trading insults again.

Still blushing, Pyrrha asked Murphy, "Did you manage to catch Roman while I was out?"

The short blonde woman shook her head, "No, Lara doesn't have his actual apartment, just an address. It's across the street, but that's all we know. Harry tried a tracking spell with that vial, but he couldn't get a decent read. It had been passed through too many hands or something."

"It was just some business material," Harry called back, "There wasn't enough of a bond for it to work. I never really expected it too, but you can never be too careful with these things."

That was a philosophy Pyrrha could get behind, but when she looked out the window, she saw the sky darkening with angry clouds. It seemed the eye of storm was passing, and a muted gray had colored the city. Anticipating the storm to come, most pedestrians had retreated to their homes, and only a few people still walked the sidewalks.

"How long was I asleep?" Pyrrha asked.

Murphy wiggled her hand side to side, "In and out for about three hours. We've been on stakeout, waiting for Mr. Torchwick to make an appearance. No luck so far, obviously."

"Three hours," Pyrrha rubbed at her head and removed her tiara for a moment and shook out her hair. Sleeping in it was a guarantee for painful headaches, and the sides of her skull were slowly pounding in protest. She ignored it and mulled over the fact that she'd fallen unconscious from _eating_ for several hours. That was something that Nora might do, but Pyrrha had to be better than that, especially in a situation like this. Something like that wouldn't happen again if she could help it.

After letting her head rest for several minutes, Pyrrha slid the tiara back into place and tightened her ponytail. When she finished, Pyrrha noticed that Murphy was raising a brow.

"Yes?"

"Sorry," Murphy apologized first, then said, "I've been meaning to ask you, if you're supposed to be some sort of… super-warrior, then why the fancy headgear and super long hair? I cut mine short because it makes an easy hand hold otherwise."

The young woman tried not to feel self-conscious about her hair, "Oh, that. I simply never let my opponents near me. No Hunter would stay in place long enough for the Grimm to really grab hold of us, and if they did, then we have far more problems than handholds."

"Fair enough, but it seems like an unnecessary risk."

Pyrrha took a breath and her expression grew distant. "Perhaps. But anyone who chooses to become a Hunter and expects to come out of every fight unscathed is foolishly naïve. We have a dangerous job after all."

Her hand fell back on the bronze of her tiara and she smiled again, "Its best to take pleasure in the simple things."

Despite the calmness in her demeanor and the logic of what she said, to Pyrrha's surprise, all eyes had turned back to her. Murphy looked disgusted by what she said, Thomas was unreadable, and Harry, well… He just looked angry.

"What? What did I say?"

All Murphy did was ask her a question, and Pyrrha had answered it honestly. Sure it wasn't the most positive and uplifting thing to say, but Pyrrha was no fool when it came to her profession. While she maintained an upbeat attitude and enjoyed being a huntress, she knew for a fact that at the end of the day, it was a very dangerous job. Not everyone always made it home in one piece.

Thomas was the first to look forward again. He immediately said, "Well shit, that's great timing."

Attention switched from Pyrrha to across the street. A red haired man in a white suit was casually strolling down the street. He'd traded his cane for an umbrella in anticipation for the possible rain, and wore that same black bowler hat. A black briefcase was in his other hand, and he had a neat spring in his step.

Roman Torchwick had arrived.

The gang piled out of the hummer and ran down the street. They crossed at the intersection ahead of their target, and made a beeline for him. As they walked, Harry glanced at Pyrrha. "Get behind us kid. If he recognizes you, he might bolt before we can ask any questions."

Pyrrha did as she was asked, and was surprised when Harry waved a hand at her and muttered, _"Obscurata."_

It was like someone had pulled a cloth bag over her head. She could still see well enough to navigate on her own, but there was no sharp contrast to the world, everything looked fuzzy and imprecise, like she suddenly needed glasses.

"What in the world?"

"A veil," Harry explained, "It should blur you enough that Roman won't take note of you."

She could understand that. Roman was from her world, and Pyrrha, much as she hated to talk about it, was a bit of a celebrity. While she doubted he'd know her personally, he might recognize her from the publicity, and given his history with Beacon Academy students, that would be grounds enough for him to make a break for it.

Pyrrha looked past Harry down the sidewalk. Torchwick and a few other equally overdressed individuals were walking along the sidewalk, though he seemed alone. She looked back at Harry and asked, "What if he does run?"

"Then we chase him down," Harry said.

In the short time she had known him, Pyrrha was already growing an… well, not an admiration, but a respect for Harry's capacity to simplify things to the point of ridiculousness. Truly he was a warrior of wit.

"Harry, here he comes," Murphy warned.

Sure enough, Torchwick was almost within earshot of their group. Pyrrha shrank back further, hoping that combined with the veil Harry had cast would make her almost unnoticeable to Torchwick.

Harry raised an arm and called out, "Sir! A moment of your time."

Torchwick was in the midst of turning towards the entrance of an apartment complex, but paused at Harry's voice. He turned back to their group and raised a brow at their gaggle of misfits. Thomas was smart enough to break off to the nearest wall and looked uninterested in what was going on. Pyrrha decided to imitate him, though she had difficulty pulling off the uninterested look.

Luckily, their target was far more focused on Harry. Torchwick was actually surprisingly tall, nearly six and a half feet high. Even so, he had to tilt his head back a little when Harry approached him. An amused grin spread on his face.

"My my, aren't you the tall one. And what can I do for you exactly?"

Harry came to a stop, his staff clacking with finality, "My name is Harry Dresden, I'm a Private Investigator for Chicago PD, this is Karrin Murphy, she's my assistant. We're investigating recent attacks in clubs across Chicago, and you were last seen at one of said clubs."

Torchwick tapped his umbrellas plastic tip against the sidewalk, in clear irritation. Despite that, his face remained the picture of calm, "Is that so? I must say, that's quite the accusation, Mr. Dresden. Do you have any evidence to support these claims?"

"Not accusing you of anything, sir," Harry clarified, "Just trying to get some questions answered. If you can cooperate, this'll go by a lot faster for everyone."

For a moment, the stylish villain rubbed his chin in thought. He eyed Harry, then Karrin, then glanced past them at Thomas and Pyrrha. His eyes slid off her and the veil around her, and rolled back around to Harry. Pyrrha felt some of the tension leave her shoulders, and let her eyes start drifting, occasionally across the street and occasionally at Thomas.

Torchwick sighed and held up his hands, "I'm a busy man, Mr. Dresden, how long will these questions take?"

"Five, ten minutes tops."

"I see, I see. Well I might…"

His eyes shot back to Pyrrha, and for the briefest seconds, their made eye contact. Nothing physically happened, but she felt a faint tingling in the air and clearly saw Roman, a sharp contrast to the world of fuzz around her. The veil slipped away under his gaze, and recognition flashed across his face.

And then, he was gone in a flash of white.

Harry cursed, "Shit, we've got a runner! Thomas-"

A blur of white and a blur of red passed Harry on either side. Thomas was already on the move, tailing Torchwick. But to his surprise, _Pyrrha_ was keeping pace with the vampire. Thomas had the lead for now, but Pyrrha was quickly gaining on him. That was next to impossible, a White Court Vampire moving at full speed could outrun just about any vanilla mortal. Then again, Pyrrha had made it clear she was as far from normal as it got.

Murphy grabbed Harry's arm, "Come on Dresden, stop gawking!"

"R-right!" and the two chased after Thomas and Pyrrha.

Pyrrha cursed her luck. Torchwick had noticed the veil, obviously, and recognized her. Now he had a lead on both of them, and she was stuck with the stupid veil obscuring her vision. She could see where she was going, but her depth perception was screwed, and Torchwick's crisp white suit almost melted into the grey urban landscape. His pumpkin orange hair though, was a flare to her senses.

Pouring everything she had into her run, Pyrrha blazed after Roman Torchwick with a speed that surprised even her. As a huntress, she was certainly faster than most people, and Pyrrha had built her fighting style on speed and strength. Yet in a flat sprint she knew she was normally slower, or at the very least, oriented to endurance sprinting. Something was very wrong with her body.

There was no time to think on it though. Torchwick ducked into the nearest with a sudden turn, and vanished. Pyrrha didn't have time to slow down, so she jumped. Years of physical training had turned her body into a machine of flesh and blood. The ground vanished from beneath her, and she sailed in a perfect arc ten or fifteen feet through the air. Her jump had been angled, and her feet met the wall of the building. Coiled like springs, she quickly sprung off the wall into the alley where Torchwicks fuzzy white outline was far more apparent.

She rolled across the floor, sprang back to her feet, and lunged for Torchwick in a full body tackle. Maybe he'd heard her coming, maybe he'd planned on it, or maybe her vision was worse than she'd expected, but she missed him by inches, his leather coat brushing against her fingers.

Then she hit the floor flat on her stomach and skid across the ground until she hit something hard, probably a wall. Torchwicks biting laughter just poured more salt into the wound, and prompted Pyrrha to start pushing herself up.

"My, my, Pyrrha Nikos, the Invincible Girl from Sanctum Academy." He chuckled, "I have to say, the cameras were far more flattering than you'd expect, you seem to be lacking in…definition."

Pyrrha got to her feet and turned to Torchwicks voice. Something hard hit her across the face, and her vision exploded into stars. She fell back to the ground, and struggled to push herself back up. There was a boom of thunder, and Torchwick hit her again across the back of her neck. Pyrrha let out a strangled gasp, and fell back to the floor.

"Not so invincible now, are you-GAH!"

Something slammed Torchwick into the nearest wall. When Pyrrha started getting back up, she saw that it was Thomas, who had caught up to her and pinned Torchwick to the wall by his throat. Roman obviously found issue with that.

There was a flash of black and Thomas let out a high pitched scream. Roman fell back to the floor, free, and back handed Thomas across the alleyway. The vampire crashed into bags of trash and started reflexively curling into a fetal position. Roman ignored him, dusted off his coat, and picked his umbrella and briefcase off the floor.

He looked at Thomas for a moment, then at Pyrrha struggling to her feet. One more glance down the alley showed Murphy and Harry about to join the fray. Roman sighed, opened the briefcase, and pulled a bright red crystal from it.

Pyrrha went rigid, and looked back at Harry, to warn him and Murphy to get down. Roman beat her to the punch.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I have no time for questions!" he tossed the crystal into the air with an underhanded throw, and pulled an oversized pistol from his coat.

"Harry, get down!" Pyrrha warned.

Roman fired and an explosion blossomed in the middle of the alley. Force slammed Pyrrha back against the wall and flattened her. Smoke quickly filled the backstreet, blinding everyone.

Pyrrha slowly pealed herself off the wall and staggered forward. The acrid smoke burned her lungs, and she pulled her sweater up for some modicum of protection. The world was eerily silent, save for the ringing in her ears. The explosion must've blown her eardrums. Her aura would heal it in a few moments, but she was blind until then. Pyrrha slowly ambled through the smoke to where she had last seen Harry and Murphy, desperately hoping she'd find them unharmed.

Relief flooded through her when she saw three shapes in the smoke. Harry and Murphy were propping Thomas back up against the wall. The vampire didn't look badly hurt, just stunned from his proximity to the explosion. Harry and Murphy were unharmed, probably protected by his shield bracelet.

Pyrrha grabbed Murphy's shoulder. The blonde woman looked up at her and even through the veil, her concern was obvious, "Pyrrha? Christ, you're alive."

Murphy's voice came out dull and toneless, but Pyrrha could hear it. She was recovering already. She gave a curt nod and looked at Thomas, "How is he?"

"Stunned, but I think he'll live," Murphy said.

Pyrrha nodded again, "Okay. I'll be back with Torchwick."

"Wait, what!?"

Murphy stopped Pyrrha before she got farther than a few feet, and grabbed her by the wrist. "Pyrrha, what do you think you're doing?"

"Ms. Murphy," Pyrrha said softly, "I mean no offense, but none of you know how to handle someone with access to their Aura. Not yet. I know what I'm doing, and the longer we waste time arguing, the farther away he gets. I'm faster than any of you, so I'll catch him quickest. He's one of the few real leads we have. So please, help your friend first."

Perhaps what she said got through to Murphy, perhaps the way she said it was what convinced her. In the end, it ultimately wasn't important. Murphy released Pyrrha's wrist, and let the girl run off down the alley, leaving her and Harry to tend to Thomas.

It took less than a minute for Pyrrha to realize that she had no idea where the heck Torchwick had run off to. The backalley had been a straight path that cut to the right where it ended in a two way path, one way leading out onto the streets and the other going farther into the maze. Piles of garbage blocked the way out onto the street, and remained undisturbed, so Pyrrha doubted that Torchwick had gone that way. So she went left and found herself stumped.

She followed the alley all the way to another junction between two paths. Both would split into more junctions, and it was impossible to tell where each would lead. Torchwick had run into a maze of alley's, and Pyrrha had no idea where to even start looking for him.

So she stood in the center of the junction and looked left, right, then left again. She took in her surroundings, hoping to find some sort of clue and found nothing. All she saw was trash everywhere, this city really was filthy. Some of it had even been stacked into a broad square structure that almost resembled a house.

Pyrrha narrowed her eyes. No, it didn't resemble a house, it was a house. Well, hut would be more appropriate. A dozen cardboard boxes had been unfolded and arranged into a makeshift hut, covered in garbage bags as a homemade tarp to protect from the rain, with limited success. One wall had nearly collapsed in on itself, and the other didn't look much better.

"It's not polite to stare," a nasally voice crowed.

Pyrrha jumped in surprise, and the voice laughed, "To your left child."

She followed the voices instructions and looked to her left. An old woman, her age undefinable, hobbled next to Pyrrha and smirked up at her. Years in the sun had aged her face into a wrinkled mass, and her nose was unnaturally long. She had long white hair tied into a braid that poked out from her ruined hood. The clothes she wore were a shambled collection of old raincoats and jeans that looked very impractical. She walked with a limp, but had no cane to speak of, and her beady blue eyes looked at Pyrrha with a measure of irritation.

"Oh! I'm sorry," Pyrrha apologized.

The old woman seemed to take stock of Pyrrha, like she was measuring the girl. It was unsettling, and Pyrrha had to resist the urge to cover herself. After a subjective eternity of that, the old woman dismissively waved her off with a 'Bah!' of irritation. Then she hobbled forward and planted herself at the huts door.

Without looking at Pyrrha she said, "I do not appreciate strangers on my property, child. What is your name?"

Pyrrha blinked. Was this woman serious? Better yet, was Pyrrha seriously wasting time gawking at a homeless woman?

"Sorry ma'am, but I should probably-"

Lightning crackled overhead and thunder boomed. As if that was the cue it was waiting for, the clouds overhead dropped a blanket of rain onto Chicago. And Pyrrha.

She was soaked thoroughly in an instant, and her hair flattened against her. She brushed it out of her eyes and sighed. The old woman chuckled, "You are not favored today, are you?"

"Lately, it feels as though I have none at all," Pyrrha admitted.

She glanced at the old crone, and said, "My name is Pyrrha Nikos ma'am. I'm sorry for intruding on your property."

The old woman grinned, exposing surprisingly healthy teeth, "There, now was that so hard? A simple bit of politeness can go a long way, young lady."

Oh how right she was. Pyrrha bowed her head, "Indeed. But I really am in a rush ma'am, so I must be going."

The rain began to pour harder, and Pyrrha's first step splashed water everywhere. The old woman laughed again, "Yes, yes, after the young man in the white suit. If you want to find him, you're going the wrong way."

Pyrrha whirled back to the old woman, eyes wide, "Wait, you know where he is!?"

"Yes, of course child! He too ran through my property, though he was far more rude about it." She closed one eye and peered at Pyrrha, "Is he a friend of yours?"

"No, not really." Pyrrha admitted.

"Ah, good. Then if you wish to find him, you will not find him going left or right."

Suspicion crept into Pyrrha's voice, "Then where will I find him?"

The old woman gently patted at the damaged wall of her hut, "Why, straight ahead of course. Are those pretty eyes of yours blind to the world girl?"

Pyrrha clenched her eyes tight and sighed, "No, not at all, it's just…"

When she opened them, the world around her suddenly seemed to pop into focus. She could see the rain for what it was, the crones discolored skin and icy blue eyes, and the edges of every object littering the alley. Her veil was gone, and she could see again.

"Ah, there we go." The old woman crooned. "Now you see, don't you child?"

Pyrrha stared at her, but peered past her hut and saw… Another back alley, one that was admittedly smaller and hidden by her makeshift home. With the veil in place, she never would've seen it before, but even under the pounding rain, she could see it far clearer than ever before.

When she looked back down, the old woman almost looked smug. Pyrrha bowed her head again, "May I please pass then miss?"

"Why of course!" the old woman said, "A girl as polite as yourself may pass!"

"Thank you."

Pyrrha walked to the lowest mound of junk she could find and was about to jump it, when the old woman grabbed her wrist. She almost flung the crone down the alley, but managed to stop herself at the last second, and only look at the woman with mild annoyance. If she saw it, the woman gave no sign.

Instead, she shoved a faded orange backpack into Pyrrha's arms and said, "You dropped this earlier Miss Nikos. I figured I'd give it back soon enough."

Pyrrha raised a brow, and glanced at the old thing. She definitely had not dropped it, but she'd spent enough time feigning politeness. So, instead of questioning it, she slung it over her shoulder and said, "Thank you ma'am. I appreciate the gesture."

"Ah, any time, any time," the crone said, flippantly.

And with that, Pyrrha leaped the makeshift wall and continued her pursuit of Roman. She didn't have to go very far to find him. One turn and she found the criminal cornered in a total dead end. It looked like it had once been a back exit for the complex, but age and future projects had led to its abandonment.

Old trash and abandoned stacks of wooden pallets were all that decorated the square. The rest was nearly smooth wall, that Torchwick was debating how to scale. He could possibly make the leap required, but the building was several stories high. It would require several jumps to reach the top, and his hands were full. His desire to avoid getting wet left him with a briefcase in one hand, and an open black umbrella in the other.

"Let's toss you up first," he said to his briefcase, and gave it an underhanded toss towards the roof.

Pyrrha took her chance and reached out with her semblance. The briefcase was lined with steel to protect the merchandise within. She metaphorical wrapped a fist around the case, and jerked it back towards her with barely a thought. It soared up into the air, then promptly arced backwards where it landed at her feet in a splash of water.

Torchwick watched it land at her feet, and his shoulders slumped, "Well, that's just great. You've got moxy kid, I'll give you that."

Without taking her eyes off Torchwick, Pyrrha kicked the briefcase behind her down the alley. Best to even the odds the best she could. Torchwick frowned at the motion, and took a step forward, "Now, that was a bit harsh Ponytail. What did I ever do to you?"

"You tried unleashing a horde of Grimm on my home," Pyrrha replied.

"I meant recently."

Pyrrha scowled, "That was less than a week ago."

That made Torchwick pause, "A week… Ooh, now that is interesting."

He began to pace, "Tell me, Ponytail, what's the last thing you remember? The tournament games I assume?"

Pyrrha wasn't sure what he was getting at, but decided to play along. If Torchwick wanted to monologue, then she would use that to buy time for Harry and Murphy to catch up. Three on one were significantly better odds.

"I remember the qualifying matches with my team, yes, and the quarter-finals." Pyrrha confirmed.

Torchwick smirked, "And then…what? Nothing else?"

Pyrrha didn't answer. The smirk grew wider and Torchwick twirled his umbrella, "Silent act then? Well let me make some guesses. You woke up in the middle of an alley, naked as the day you were born, no idea how you got there, and possibly with a Grimm or two on your trail. Is that about right?"

Her silence was enough of an answer for him. Roman's smirk grew into a grin and he laughed, "And if I had to guess from how utterly trashed you look and your complete lack of a weapon, this was recent, wasn't it? Well let me tell you a little secret Ponytail. It's been four months since I was last in Remnant."

He might as well have hit her in the gut, the effect was still the same. Pyrrha lost her breath and the world began to dance. Four months, that couldn't be right. She could by a few weeks like Lara had said, but four months? Had she been gone for four months? How many memories had she lost in that time?

Roman laughed again, "Oh, didn't see that coming did you? Well to be frank, I saw all your fights Ponytail, so I'm not surprised. You might be the Invincible Girl, but you sure can't handle stress. Or deal with murder either. Guess Penny learned that the hard way, didn't she?"

Those last words were like a bolt of lightning. Her skull erupted in fireworks again and Pyrrha fell to her knees, grasping desperately at her skull. The agonizing pain burrowed into her temples and started tearing at her mind. The world was a kaleidoscope of bright flashing pain, so much pain. The world began to tilt forward, and fire erupted across the back of her scalp. No, not fire, Roman had kicked the back of her head. And she was lying on the ground now.

She heard footsteps, not Romans, other footsteps, and heard a voice, also not Romans. At least, she thought it wasn't his. Everything hurt, everything was confusing.

"Pyrrha!? What did you do to her!?"

That was Murphy. That had to be Murphy.

Someone, Roman, grabbed her ponytail and pulled Pyrrha up to her knees. Her eyes drifted for a moment, until they settled on the figures standing a fair distance away. She recognized them. It was Harry and his friends, Murphy and Thomas!

Murphy had her pistol drawn and focused on Roman, Harry's staff was smoldering, and Thomas was glaring daggers at Roman. Pyrrha couldn't help but wonder why…

Something dropped to the floor, and water started splashing her face again. Roman had dropped his umbrella, why? Her ponytail started hurting again, and she heard something click. Oh, that was why. Roman was still holding her by her ponytail, and had pulled out his big gun.

"Now let's not do anything hasty people," Roman warned, "After all, I'd hate for things to get messy."

"Let her go, Torchwick," Harry ordered through clenched teeth, "We just wanted to talk."

"Hmm," Torchwick hummed, "I'm going to have to say no. You really need to work on your people skills Mr. Dresden."

They bickered like that, exchanging insults and threats. Pyrrha felt her mind steadily grow clearer as they did though. The drill in her skull had subsided and her memories boiled indignantly beneath a cloud of self-control. Pyrrha focused her thoughts on the situation at hand, and peered through the rain.

Harry was negotiating with Roman to free her obviously, and the criminal had a gun to her skull. Thomas and Murphy had slowly spread out to try and flank him, but Roman had caught the movement and tightened his grip on her. So that was a no-go.

Her eyes darted to the floor where the briefcase lay. It was big, heavy, and made of steel. She could possibly use it to catch Roman off guard and even the field again, keep him from opening that big stupid mouth of his.

Something else caught her eye, a big orange something.

The backpack the woman had given her lay on the ground where Pyrrha had initially lost control of herself again. It must have somehow fallen off when she collapsed, and Roman hadn't given a damn about it. The old seems along its edges had torn from the impact somehow.

No, they hadn't torn, they'd been cut. By a bronze disc big as a car's hubcap. Her throat went dry, and Pyrrha extended her Semblance to the backpack. Her control over polarity acted as a metaphysical sixth sense. If she used it, she could feel the metal around her, and when she passed her senses over the backpack, she felt two familiar old shapes.

She didn't know how or why the backpack held them, but Pyrrha felt tears of joy all the same. Her Semblance seized hold of the backpack, and tightened like a spring. Tension built and rose until the bag began to shake. Her eyes flicked up to Torchwick, who was now as soaked as everyone else, and she released the spring.

The bag exploded, and a bronze shield flew through the air where it smashed against Romans face. The man yelped, released Pyrrha's hair, and she sprang into action. She grabbed the shield from the air and slammed it into his face again, before jumping backwards and scooping the second item off the ground. A scarlet short sword as long as her forearm, highlighted with bronze.

Miló and Akoúo̱, her personal weapons from Remnant. The worn leather grip was a comfort in her hand, and for the first time since she arrived in Chicago, Pyrrha felt complete.

Roman staggered back and fired his pistol without aiming. Pyrrha rolled left, and lunged. She struck three times, once across his firing arm, once across his midsection, and once across the inside of his leg. His aura flickered from the blows, but did not give.

Pyrrha used the slickness of the wet concrete to continue sliding past him, and twisted back around to face him. By now, Roman regained some control of himself and shook his arm, glaring at her with his acid green eyes.

"Oh, so now you're up for an actual fight?"

Her response was to flick the switch on Miló. The entire blade shifted and squealed in response, its hilt and blade transforming into that of a javelin. Pyrrha spun the weapon with expert precision, and attacked.

Roman deflected her strikes with the top of his pistol, once, twice, three times. Pyrrha swung her leg out, and he jumped back and lashed out with his own. Pyrrha's shield took the blow, and she jabbed at him with Miló once again. The blow missed, but tore the collar of his suit.

"Gah! I just got this suit you stupid bra-Eep!"

She never gave him time to finish. Pyrrha twisted on her heel and smacked the hilt of her spear against his jaw. Roman spun through the air and barely managed to land on his feet. He fell to one knee, and sagged in place.

Pyrrha gave him no chance to recover. She returned Miló to its sword form and sprinted forward. To anyone looking, all they'd see was a blur of red and gold slash through the air past Roman four times. On the fourth, Pyrrha slid across the ground and knocked Roman into the air. One more transformation saw Miló take the form of a hunting rifle.

Still on her back, Pyrrha used her leg as a steadying fire, and unleashed a barrage of Dust rounds on the criminal. Each was like the crack of a whip and propelled him farther and farther into the air. When Pyrrha finally emptied the clip, Roman hung in the air for a split second…

And promptly fell back to earth. Pyrrha flipped back onto her feet and delivered a roundhouse kick to his back as he fell. Roman let out an agonized yell and went flying through the air and face planted into the farthest wall. Concrete shattered, leaving a neat little imprint in the wall where he lay. It cracked once, and Roman promptly fell out of the wall and onto the floor, unconscious.

Pyrrha smiled, lowered her leg, and slung Akoúo̱ over her shoulder, and attached Miló to it via her polarity. Then she looked over at her friends, and tried not to laugh.

Murphy was the only one of the three who did not look stunned. She had holstered her gun and had her arms crossed, but there was an impressed look in her eyes. Harry and Thomas on the other hand…

Well, Harry's jaw might as well have been on the floor, and Thomas kept looking back from Pyrrha to Roman, to the Roman shaped outline in the wall. Obviously, they had not expected her to be capable of… Well, that.

Pyrrha couldn't help it, she let out a quiet laugh, "Well then, I'm happy to see you are all okay now."

Harry and Thomas didn't say or do anything. Murphy rolled her eyes and walked forward. She gave Pyrrha a thumbs up and crouched next to Roman, placing her fingers on his neck.

"He's alive, we should probably get him out of here. Someone will have heard all of that, we don't need the cops getting involved, right Harry?"

The wizard finally picked his jaw off the floor, and nodded, "Um, y-yeah. Definitely. We should go. Like, now."

Pyrrha could agree with that sentiment. She walked over to Murphy and helped the woman lift Roman. Murphy winced at the required movement, and Harry quickly moved to help her take it. Murphy made a show of glaring at him, but her eyes showed she was grateful for the assistance, and let Harry take up his side.

They left the dead end as it was, covered in soot and tiny craters, and a stylish cartoon imprint in one wall. They had spent far too much time trying to catch Roman, now it was time to see what the criminal knew.

 **A/N: Another late chapter with yet another legitimate excuse. Yard work and drama took over once again. I had planned on trying to post this chapter last night actually, but it kinda grew larger than I intended, obviously.**

 **And, before people get worried, there is very much a reason why Pyrrha regained her old weapons, and why Pyrrha was able to easily handle Roman once she got them. I'll explain the latter only though.**

 **Roman does not have his old weapons on him, and was not prepared for full combat today. If he had his new Dresdenverse weapons, he'd have likely put up a better fight. That said, friggen Blake was able to handle him with some Dust helping her out, so while Roman _is_ a competent combatant, he certainly isn't infallible. And lets face it, Pyrrha was a MUCH better fighter than pretty much any of the main cast of RWBY was. That said, should Pyrrha and Roman fight again, it won't be nearly so one sided, I promise.**

 **Now, onto questions from the previous chapter!**

 **Parks98 asks: When will the bigger and more mature Grimm come through, because so far its just been grunts.**

 **Well, that will be around the climax I imagine. It wouldn't be all that fun if I just started throwing Griffins and Goliaths at our heroes yet, give it time. Plus, I have some custom Grimm that'll fit the more... crazy-awesome aspects of the Dresdenverse. Oh, and if a Grimm seems to be taken down rather easily, assume that its a young one, like when the shotgun (Which, fyi, has FAR more kick than a hunting rifle) was able to easily handle the Grimm, they were just young ones for the most part.**

 **Next question! Cowslayer has several, but I answered one just now, and as for his other one, he wants to know if Penny will appear in this story.**

 **Not this one, but possibly in the sequel. But I've said enough.**

 **That's the only questions this time around, but don't be afraid to ask guys, I will happily answer any and all questions. Now before I go though, I have one minor announcement. In celebration of breaking fifty reviews, and over 4,500 views on this story, I plan on releasing a special chapter that is specifically non-canon. It has no bearing on the story as a whole, will not be reference, and exists only for shits and giggles. Its essentially RWBY Chibi in text form. I don't know when I'll release this chapter, as ideas for it are rather slim at the moment. So if there's anything ridiculous you'd like to see that you know wouldn't fit in the story, feel free to leave a comment in your review! I'm always open to hearing new ideas!**

 **Welp, that's all for now folks, hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **Ta-ta for now!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Pyrrha, Harry, Murphy, and Thomas quickly left the scene of the attack before anyone could investigate, lugging Torchwick between them. The explosions and gunfire were going to quickly draw attention from cops and pedestrians alike, and no one wanted to get caught up in that. They quickly crossed the street and returned to Thomas's apartment.

"Alright, Murphy, grab a chair," Harry ordered. She did, and they set Torchwicks unconscious body down in it.

Murphy pulled a pair of thin metal rings from her pocket and Pyrrha blinked, "What are those?"

"What, you don't have handcuffs in your world?"

Pyrrha stared at the rings. They were about an inch thick with a metal chain connecting them together. They were hardly what she might call durable.

"You're kidding. That's what you use as restraint?" Pyrrha wasn't being rude, she was legitimately surprised. Most criminals in Remnant had some level of Aura control to them, enhancing their strength far past what a normal human could manage. Those handcuffs definitely couldn't hold Torchwick.

"Standard issue."

Pyrrha shook her head, "He'll break those the moment he wakes up. Do you have anything stronger, like a thick rope or metal chains?"

Murphy raised an inquisitive brow and looked at Harry. The wizard shrugged, "Don't look at me, she's the expert."

"…Right," Murphy sighed. "Thomas, got any ropes or chains?"

Thomas smirked, "That depends on the situation."

"Thomas," Murphy warned, though there was humor in her voice.

He laughed and walked out of the room, "Yeah, I've got something we can use, give me a minute."

Pyrrha watched Thomas as he left. While the man certainly wasn't putting off his irresistible lure, Pyrrha would not deny that he was any less attractive. Yes, Pyrrha very much had her heart set on one person, but she was in love, not dead. Once Thomas did vanish though, she reeled in her senses and analyzed his apartment.

It was an Art Deco style apartment, with walls of deep red and charcoal grey carpet. It opened into a living room where a small round table of matching color was set up, and broke off into two rooms. One was the kitchen, which was all black and stainless steel with white walls, while the other was a large entertainment center with matching sofas and chairs. A colossal flat screen television hung from the wall, flanked on either side by stacks of DVD's, CD's, and that worlds equivalent of game consoles. The apartment had a very clean and sterile look to it, almost unlived in.

At first glance, it looked like Pyrrha had walked into a magazine cover, not someone's home. But a closer look showed a subtle amount of love and care had gone into this home. There were neatly arranged throw pillows on the couches, and hanging from the walls in neat linearity so as to enhance instead of clash with the Art Deco style, were pictures and photographs.

Pyrrha glanced at them and saw pictures of Thomas and a woman, average height, in her early thirties with bleach white hair and near flawless skin. Together in that picture, the two looked happy, at peace. They looked in love.

An ache in her chest made Pyrrha look away from the photo, and fall into the nearest seat she could find, by the living room table. She set the ruined remains of the backpack on the table, and carefully set Miló and Akoúo̱ onto it. She kept her focus on Miló by inspecting it for chips and dents.

Very quickly she became aware of the others staring at her. With a sigh, Pyrrha set Miló down and said, "I'm sorry, but its impolite to stare. Is something wrong?"

"Well, maybe," Harry said.

Pyrrha glanced up at the tall man, brow raised. Harry pointed at Miló, "Were you going to explain where you got ahold of your Spartan starter kit?"

"…My what?"

"Your weapons," Murphy clarified, "Where did you get them from? You didn't have them earlier, unless you can turn things invisible."

"Oh," Pyrrha said, and shook her head, "I can't, though there are others-"

"Pyrrha," Harry interrupted. "question first, exposition later."

She blushed, "Right. Sorry."

After carefully setting Miló down on the polished wood, she looked up at Harry and Murphy, and explained what happened. She explained the chase through the alleyway, her losing Torchwick, and running across the old lady. She told them how she got past said old lady, and that the woman had shoved the bag into her hands. Pyrrha explained all of this, and with every word, she noted Harry grew a little paler.

When she finished, Harry found the nearest chair and slumped in it. He covered his face and sighed, "Hells Bells."

"What?" Pyrrha was confused. Sure, the situation was strange, but it surely couldn't be that bad, could it?

Well, she had been wrong before.

Harry removed his hand from his face, "Pyrrha, I should have told you this sooner, but when dealing with the supernatural, you never, _ever_ , give them your full name."

Pyrrha cocked her head to one side, "Why? It's just a name."

"To us mortals, yes." Harry agreed, "But in the world of the supernatural, names have power. If someone knows your Name, your True Name, they can create a link between themselves and you. If they say it, and mean it, they can do things to you. What they do depends on the creature, but if it is a powerful supernatural entity, then they only need a part of your name to manipulate you."

He glanced at Miló and Akoúo̱ on the table, "And whoever gave you your weapons, has the power to reach between worlds at will, and has an acute interest in you."

A chill ran down Pyrrha's back, a touch of ice. She swallowed slowly and tried not to react, but now that Harry told her that, she was almost certain that the air around her was getting colder. But that was ridiculous, she was just paranoid from what he told her.

Pyrrha shook her head and ignored the feeling, "Be that as it may, is there any immediate way to handle the problem?"

"No," Harry said. "In the long term, your Name could change over time. Mortals aren't exactly consistent. Whoever has taken interest in you though might have plans. You'll need to step carefully now Pyrrha, and if you feel anything weird, something that is absolutely _wrong_ tell me. Immediately. We can't take any risks with something like this. Understood?"

"Yes," Pyrrha nodded and squared her shoulders. That she could understand, go to an expert for assistance, trust Harry. He was a good man, and if things got dicey, Pyrrha trusted him to know what to do.

That seemed to put Harry a little at ease. He slumped in his chair and smiled, "Good. Now where's Thomas?"

"Man, I've been here for five minutes. Torchwicks tied up and ready to go."

Everyone looked back at Thomas in surprise, and saw he spoke the truth. He was standing by Torchwick, casually leaning against the wall. Torchwick himself was tied to the chair with several rows of thick steel chains, and a patch of duct tape had been slapped over his mouth. He was awake now, and wasted no time in glaring at everyone with contempt.

"Huh," Harry said. "Well alright then. Let's see what Torchwick knows then."

Thomas smirked and ripped the duct tape off with an unnecessary amount of force. Roman sputtered, spat, and glared at Thomas, "I do believe you're starting to get on my nerves, vampire."

"He's not the one you need to worry about," Harry said.

He spun his chair around to face Roman, and casually tapped his staff against the carpeted floor. Roman snorted, "I know who you are, Dresden, and you don't scare me. I've seen things that would make most men scream for their mommy's."

"I could leave you alone with Murphy for five minutes," Harry said, "Then we'll see how loud you can scream."

"Oooh, scary." Roman said. "What's next, you start playing good cop bad cop with your little murderer at the table?"

Pyrrha looked up in surprise, "What?"

Roman grinned, "Oh that's right, you don't remember what happened, do you?"

"That's enough," Harry said, "You're trying to change the focus here, but you seem to be forgetting that you're not in any position to do that."

"I wouldn't say that," Roman replied. "After all, you obviously need information from me, and you don't have anyone else who could provide it for you. The merry miss murderess over there can't remember anything, so I'm your only leave Dresden. And frankly, I'm not seeing a reason to be particularly agreeable at the moment."

Harry stared at Roman for a moment, not saying a word. Roman kept wearing that smug grin of his. He never saw Harry move. Neither did Pyrrha.

There was a flash of grey, the sound of wood smashing against the wall, and Romans grin was gone. His chair had been slammed against the nearest wall, and Harry was standing over him, pressing one leg against his chest hard enough that the chair creaked under the pressure. The runes on his staff were glowing red hot and the air was frigid.

Pyrrha's jaw dropped open in surprise. She had no idea Harry could move that fast. Murphy and Thomas looked wary of the sudden movement, but the speed obviously hadn't surprised them.

Harry leaned forward until his face was a foot away from Romans, "You want to play loophole then? Fine. If you don't want to willingly give us what you know, then that means your useless to us. But we can't let you go either. You obviously know more than your letting on, so tell me, Roman Torchwick, do you know exactly who I am?"

Harry released some of the pressure on Romans chest. He gasped and said, "Harry Dresden. Private Investigator, Wizard of the White Council, and the Winter Knight."

"Bingo," Harry snapped his fingers, "But did you also know I'm a Warden of the White Council? That means I enforce the Seven Laws of Magic. And unlike mortal laws, there's no prison sentence for breaking them."

Roman scoffed, "P-Please, I'm not stupid, and I'm not a wizard. I've broken no Law of Magic."

Harry reached into his coat and pulled out the vial of Dust. He set it on the living room table and said, "Seventh Law of Magic, Thou Shalt Not Open the Outer Gates. As an inhabitant of an alternate dimension, you are by your nature, an Outsider. And you have been selling material from your world in mine. I have evidence from Lara Raith to back up my claim. As a violator of the Law, it is within my duty as a Warden to execute you on the spot if I deem it necessary."

Every word Harry spoke was glacial. Slow, meticulous, and rumbling with a grand power that shook Pyrrha to her very bones. She, and everyone else in the room, made extra room between themselves and Harry. The effect on Roman was obvious.

He gulped and said, through chattering teeth, "I-I'm no Outsider tho-though. Out-Outsiders inhabit the Sp-Space between spaces. I'm simply fro-from another world. N-not the same thing."

Some of his confidence returned and he smirked, "And besides, that still would leave you at square one, wouldn't it?"

Harry kicked Romans chair back into place, and rose to his full height. At nearly seven feet tall, it was certainly impressive to see. He was a towering giant, and he knew it.

Without moving, he spoke again, in that same glacial tone, "True enough. But, as the Winter Knight, I have access to other resources that will make you talk. And if you know what the Winter Knight is, then you must be familiar with the Winter Court. So tell me, Torchwick, do you think Mab will be as understanding as I am when I tell her you are possibly responsible for the Grimm incursions?"

Romans eyebrows shot up, "Wait, what? The Grimm are here!?"

Harry paused. Pyrrha looked between him and Roman, and spoke up, "Yes. There've been attacks going on for the past month. We assumed you were involved, considering the coincidence of your arrival and your past operations."

Roman looked past Harry at Pyrrha, and scowled, "For the record, Ponytail, I've cut ties with my old employer. Being eaten alive is not exactly good for business. Frankly, I have no idea how I survived or wound up on this little mudball, but I thought I was free of the Grimm for good."

"Well you're not." Harry said, finding his voice again. "Grimm are attacking again, and you were the only lead we have right now. Still feel like being quiet?"

Roman ignored Harry. There was a look in his eyes, not one of fear or terror, but one frustration. He stared at the floor and quietly spoke, "I was trying to build something new here. A new empire, a new life. No more Grimm, no more mysterious multi-stage plans. It was gonna be like the good old days again."

He looked up and glared at Pyrrha, "But no. People like you just drag trouble everywhere you go, don't you?"

"I had nothing to do with this," Pyrrha said. "You and I are both victims Torchwick."

"Right!" Roman laughed, "Victims. Honey, I chose my side, but you, you were the keystone to the entire operation. Everything that happened during the Vytal Festival hinged on you. And you played into their hands perfectly."

Pyrrha felt her throat grow dry, and a dull throb started hammering at the base of her skull. Harry took one look at her and said, "Pyrrha, don't listen to him. Whatever he's saying, it's not relevant to the events at hand."

"Oh of course its relevant!" Roman yelled, "Its completely relevant, don't you understand!? It's all a multi-stage plot, a scheme, a plan, a strategy that _she_ came up with. Not Ponytail there, but the real villainess behind this mess. She's the Queen of the board and she's twisted all of us into her pawns. Now we're just in stage two I guess, and we can all thanks little miss sunshine over there."

He glared at Pyrrha with so much hatred and vitriol that she had to look away. Her hands balled into fists and she said, "That's enough, Roman."

"No, no, I'm not done!" the criminal cackled, "All of this, the Grimm, the attacks, even me being here, is all thanks to you. You're a god damn puppet Pyrrha Nikos, and a murderer. I saw what happened during the Vyral Festival, the whole world saw!"

The throbbing grew stronger.

"Shut up."

"You act like the pillar of control and order, but you're just like the rest of us puny mortals. You're a cheating, dirty, murdering little _bitch_. And because of you, Vale is overrun with Grimm, and the world as you knew it is _gone_."

"I said shut up!" Pyrrha screamed.

Her chair crashed against the floor, and without thinking, she sent Akoúo̱ spinning through the air at Romans face. There was a sharp crack, and Pyrrha froze in horror.

Roman had tilted his head out of the way at the last second. The bronze steel of Akoúo̱ was buried half a foot into Thomas's wall. If it had been an inch to the left, it would've taken the man's head off.

Pyrrha started to tremble, and couldn't breathe. She couldn't look at the others, couldn't bear to see their faces. Tears trailed down her face in tiny rivers, but she did nothing else. No one said anything, they only stared at the shield in the wall.

Finally, someone spoke up.

"Pyrrha-"

And that was all it took. She was gone from the apartment and racing for the elevator. Just five minutes. She needed five minutes to...

To do something. What, she had no idea, but she couldn't stay with the others in her current state, she was too volatile.

Pyrrha only got as far as the elevators. She hammered the down button and rested her head against wall for a moment, taking deep breaths. That helped a little, and she felt the trembling cease moments later. Yet despite that, Pyrrha felt angry at herself for _again_ losing control of her emotions like that. Why was she so brittle right now?

"He's a real prick, ain't he?"

Pyrrha jumped, and looked down. Murphy was leaning against the wall next to her. The short blonde smiled a little, but didn't say anything else. Pyrrha sighed and hung her head. "Miss Murphy, I just need some time to myself right now."

"Kid, I've been down this road. You don't want to take it alone." Said Murphy.

Pyrrha looked away and crossed her arms, "It's not something I want to talk about anymore. Talking hasn't really fixed anything."

"I'd disagree. You're definitely not the unstable wreck you were when Harry first brought you home."

Pyrrha glanced down at Murphy. She smiled in response and continued, "Naked, injured, and babbling to yourself, you were in a pretty bad place. You're a long way from home and don't know how you got here, it's understandable if you're stressed."

"Maybe," Pyrrha frowned, "But I'm not allowed to let myself go like that. You might not have known who I was, no one does, but that's not an excuse for me to fall apart like that."

Murphy nodded, "True, no one's arguing that. But it's also not an excuse to run off when you do fall apart. If you want people to respect you, then trying to maintain the untouchable pedestal isn't going to work for you. You'll snap under the pressure eventually."

Pyrrha stared at the ground. She processed what Murphy said, silently turning it around in her mind. What Murphy said had some precedent to it, Pyrrha couldn't deny that. But it was easier said than done.

"I've spent most of my life propped up on that pedestal," Pyrrha explained. Her voice was quiet. Murphy listened but said nothing.

"Learning to let go, to talk with others isn't… something I can just do. People wouldn't even give me that chance back home, not until I moved to Beacon. But I was part of a team, and I couldn't let them down."

Murphy interjected, "Working as a team requires cooperation from all members Pyrrha. You can't hold up a bridge with one support. The same goes for you right now. You should be feeling scared, you should be feeling sad. In fact, I know you feel that."

She reached out and gently squeezed Pyrrha's hand, "We all feel things like that. It's not weakness, it's not something to be ashamed of. It's what makes us human. So if something's bothering you Pyrrha, talk to me. Talk to Harry if you have to. Don't bottle it up, that will just make things worse."

A smile touched Pyrrha's lips. The comfort and warmth of Murphy's hand said far more than her words. The simple act of physical contact was something intimate between humans. It was a comforting presence, a sign of trust and care between two people. Pyrrha did not know the feeling well, but it was appreciated all the same.

She took a breath and sighed, a calm relaxed sigh. The ever present pounding at the back of her skull finally receded, and once more, Pyrrha felt at peace again.

"Thank you, Murphy."

Another squeeze, "Anytime kid."

Perhaps her situation wasn't great, it was definitely far from perfect, but she had been lucky in one regard. Pyrrha had new friends to help her, and for that, she would be eternally grateful.

There moment of peace didn't last long though. Thomas came down the hall minutes later, and gave Murphy a look. The woman nodded at him, and Thomas seemed to calm down a bit. Pyrrha ducked her head again.

"Harry done interrogating him?" Murphy asked.

"Yeah. We've got an address, we were going to check it out."

Pyrrha let go of Murphy's hand, and said, "Good, then let's go."

Thomas glanced at her nervously. Pyrrha crossed her arms, "I'm not unstable. There's just been a… lot of stress, Thomas. I'd appreciate it if you didn't treat me otherwise."

"Right, but the thing is, Harry and I are-"

"Oh for god sake," Murphy sighed, "Pyrrha is more than capable of taking care of herself. She _is_ the reason we captured Torchwick in the first place, remember?"

Thomas raised his hands defensively, "Okay, okay. Don't bite my head off."

"Don't tempt me," Murphy shot back.

The three of them returned to Thomas's room. Pyrrha shivered and took a quick glance around. The corners of the apartment had grown thick with a network of icy patterns that spread an inch or two from each corner. The air had to have dropped to the low thirties at least. Harry was standing by Torchwick and looked perfectly comfortable.

Roman, on the other hand, was shivering and looked several shades paler than usual. Pyrrha found it hard to feel sympathy for him though, and ignored him. She walked over to where she had left her shield impaled in the wall, and pulled it out with one swift tug, then slid it back over her shoulders.

She picked up Miló from the table and hid it behind the shield. Then she turned to Harry and asked, "We have the address, yes?"

He nodded.

Pyrrha looked over at Torchwick, "Are we bringing him with us?"

"Yep."

She swiped the roll of duct tape off the table and grinned, "Do we need him to give us directions?"

"Not at all."

Pyrrha couldn't help but grin, while Torchwick tried and failed to scoot away from her.

"Perfect."

* * *

They left Thomas's apartment as the police was establishing a crime scene where their earlier skirmish had taken place. Pyrrha made a mental note to try and be more careful in the future. Getting the attention of the police wouldn't do her any favors, since she didn't technically exist in their world. Trying to explain that to them would just waste more time.

The location Torchwick gave them was one of the smaller ports along Lake Michigan, and the drive there was relatively peaceful. The rain began to lighten during the drive, and a few rays of sunlight peaked through clouds.

In the back of the Hummer, Roman was tightly secured by his chains, and a fresh patch of duct tape had been applied. Murphy and Pyrrha rode in the back, while Thomas and Harry bickered up front again.

They reached the port right as the two were in the midst of a heated argument that Pyrrha really didn't understand.

"No, you're wrong Thomas. With enough prep-time, Batman could kick Supermans ass, easy. I should know, it makes all the difference in the world."

Thomas opened his door and snorted, "Yeah, but Superman has an entire arsenal of alien tech. If Batman is allowed to prepare for the fight, then so is Superman."

"Bah," was Harry's response.

Murphy pinched her nose and tried not to laugh, "Are you two done?"

They exchanged a look, and both 'hmphed' in response. Murphy did laugh at that, "Right."

Everyone exited the Hummer and headed to the trunk. Harry opened it and casually pulled Torchwick out with one hand. Once the man was on his feet, Harry very gently patted his shoulder.

"So, Roman, we're going to remove the duct tape now. And you're going to tell us where you've been getting your Dust from. You're not going to double cross us, or else things will get messy. Understood?"

Roman stared at Harry, his eyes blank. Harry tightened his grip, and Roman nodded once. Harry smiled, "Great!" and tore the duct tape from Roman's mouth.

Surprisingly, Roman made no comment on the action. Pyrrha immediately readied her weapons in response. To her amusement, Murphy loosened her holster at the same time. As the always said, birds of a feather…

"So, where are we going?" Harry asked.

Roman turned to the docks and jerked his head eastward. The entire dock was of the industrial variety. Vale had one, and the similarities were uncanny. Large crates, bigger than a bus were stacked in neat symmetrical rows. Several smaller warehouses were spaced along the eastern side of the dock, and several freighters were currently in port. Pyrrha could see the towering dock cranes moving cargo to and from them in a semi-organized fashion.

Oh, and the entire facility was protected by a chain link fence.

They had parked away from the main entrance for obvious reasons. Harry nodded at Pyrrha, and she walked up to the fence. She lifted her right hand and focused on the fence, reaching out with her Semblance. Her senses embraced the steel wiring, and with delicate ease, she pushed it aside with the amount of effort one might push away grass.

Once the metal had creaked into place, Pyrrha smiled back at the group. Harry whistled, "Very impressive. Can you put it back after we pass through?"

"Easily."

He nodded, "Good."

They passed through, Pyrrha doing just that, and pushed Roman to the front. He grumbled and whined, but remained relatively silent the entire walk. They passed several warehouses, careful to avoid the guards and workers. It must have been a slow day, because they didn't come across any, and made it to the final warehouse without any trouble.

"This is it," Roman said, "My Dust supplier is in there."

"You have space in there?" Murphy asked.

Roman scoffed, "No, I own the warehouse. I've been a very busy man these past few months, money is hardly the obstacle it was when I first arrived."

"Right," Harry said, walking up to the building. It had large steel doors, big enough for heavy equipment to pass in and out through. The walls were concrete and stained from the recent rain, and there was a smaller door built into the left side of the facility.

Harry casually walked up to the door, and tapped it with the tip of his staff, whispering, _'Forzare.'_

Unseen force popped the doors lock, and it swung open. They entered, and found that the warehouse was filled with steel containers. There was even a few heavy machines for lifting purposes, parked near the entrance.

"How much money have you made off this Dust stuff?" Thomas wondered aloud.

Roman sighed, "Most of my cash isn't from Dust. That's a recent business venture. I won't bore you with the details, but a man of my skills has very little trouble procuring funds during an emergency situation."

"So you stole the money you needed," Murphy summed up.

"If you wanted to argue semantics, then yes. I stole it. Personally, I prefer the term 'appropriated'. Less negative context."

Harry grunted, "Noted. Now, move."

Roman growled at him, "Yes, thank you, I know. I am moving."

He took three steps forward, and promptly fell flat on his face. Harry facepalmed and Murphy let out a sigh. Pyrrha shook her head and walked over to help him back up. With his arms chained, he'd never get up on his own.

She grabbed him by the arm and heaved him to his feet.

Which was when Roman snapped the black rune, that she had mistaken for cufflinks, in her face. Her vision exploded in light, and Pyrrha screamed in surprise.

"Hey!" Harry charged forward.

Roman casually jumped over the wizard, and slammed into Murphy. The tiny woman hit the ground with a surprised off, and Roman ran for the exit. He flexed his arms as he did, and the chains snapped like plastic. He looked home free, when Thomas appeared in his way.

That didn't stop Roman. He knocked Thomas aside and continued for the exit. But the vampire kicked his legs out and sent Roman crashing to the floor. Before he knew it, Thomas had him pinned to the ground, and Harry and Murphy were standing over him, weapons drawn.

"You really thought it'd be that easy?" Harry growled. In his hand he held an oversized revolver that was nearly comical in size.

Roman looked up at Harry and Murphy, and laughed, "Actually, yes. I still do even."

Harry sighed, "Why do I always get the cocky clichéd ones?"

"Oh trust me, it's only cocky if you don't know what you're doing," Roman smirked, "And _I_ know what I'm doing."

He looked over his shoulder, and Harry briefly followed his gaze. Back where he had fallen, Pyrrha was rubbing at her eyes and blinking. She swayed on her feet, and for all intents and purposes, almost looked drunk.

"Pyrrha, you alright?" Harry called.

Her eyes shot towards Harry. They were dull and lifeless. No, not right. They were blurred, like a television with poor reception. Harry felt a chill go down his spine, and Roman laughed again.

"If I were you three, I'd start running about now. I'm not sure what she's seeing, but it's definitely not something she likes."

On cue, Miló spiraled into its spear mode, and Pyrrha hefted her shield into place. Harry and Murphy both turned towards her, and started backing away. Poor Thomas looked conflicted between joining them, and keeping Roman pinned.

"Harry," he said slowly, "What do we do?"

Pyrrha narrowed her eyes, and bared her teeth in an expression that did not resemble a smile in the slightest. Harry gulped, and said, "Run Thomas. Run."

* * *

 **A/N: More events came out, I didn't have time to write, hence the late out of schedule update. This chapter also wound up being longer than planned, so that didn't help. I debated waiting till tomorrow to post it, or finishing it tomorrow, but decided that the next chapter won't be released until this weekend. Its a big action chapter, so I'll need time to work on it.**

 **That said, lot of little things happened this chapter. Small revelations and friendships forming, as well as hopefully Pyrrha's last big mental breakdown for a while. I've been kinda cruel to her in that regard. But enough about that, time for questions!**

 **Neogoki asks: Was that Mother Winter or Mab that Pyrrha gave her true name too?**

 **Well, if I told you that, it'd be a bit of a spoiler, now would it? What I will say is this though, its a situation neither Pyrrha or Harry will be expecting.**

 **Cowslayer asks: Will Salem appear or be a prominent background character?**

 **Not in this story, no.**

 **Nic61 asks: Will you have anymore details in about what training to become a huntsman entails including the fact that an average graduate will be 21 by the time they get to real big pressures of their job?**

 **There will be a long conversation at some point in the future between Pyrrha and the others concerning her occupation, and they will better understand how Remnant works as a result.**

 **Parks98 wants to know: What effect would magic have on Dusttech?**

 **Well, I can't really say yet, though it definitely won't be the same as his...unique interaction with most modern gadgets.**

 **Thats all the questions for tonight guys, and I apologize for not being on time with my usual updates. I hope to fix this in the future, and provide clear and consistent updates for you all.  
**

 **In the meantime though, please leave your thoughts, criticisms, and questions in the review, and I'll see you all this Saturday.**

 **Ta-ta for now!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Run!"

"Stars and stones, where did she go!?"

"I dunno, just keep moving!"

The warehouse was a maze of cargo containers, and losing Pyrrha wasn't particular difficult. Whatever Roman had done to her had slowed her down for the moment. Not ones to look a gift horse in the mouth, they took their advantage and ran with it, quickly got lost down the maze of corridors.

It was only after several minutes of running in circles that they finally came to a stop, Thomas in the lead and Harry watching the rear. Murphy took up the middle and slumped against one of the crates, catching her breath.

She was the only vanilla mortal of the two of them, and the shortest to boot. No matter how good of shape she was in, Murphy couldn't keep up with Thomas and Harry forever. She only needed a moment though, and quickly stood back up.

"What do we do?" she asked.

Harry scanned the tops of the crates for any flashes of red, and said, "We keep running for now. Torchwick dropped a glamour on her, so now she sees us as her enemies. I can break the glamour, but I'll need you guys to buy me time."

"Forget that," Thomas said, "We outnumber her three-to-one, I say we take the fight to her. If we split up like that, she might start picking us off one by-"

Steel shrieked, and a crimson blade blossomed from the steel container Thomas was standing next to, inches from his nose.

"-One?" he squeaked.

The blade screeched and vanished. Pyrrha's arm punched through the cut a moment later, and grabbed Thomas by the throat. She slammed his skull against the wall once, twice, three times. The container groaned again, and the entire wall exploded in a shower of sparks, sliding across the floor and pinning Thomas to the nearest cargo container. It all happened within seconds.

Harry and Murphy stood there, dumbfounded at the display of raw power, until Pyrrha emerged from the ruined box. Her pupils had shrunk to pinpoints, and the green of her eyes dulled to a dead olive. They flicked to Harry and Murphy.

"…Hells bells, this is gonna hurt," Harry whined. He was not wrong.

Pyrrha charged. Harry briefly noted that the concrete beneath her feet was cracking with each step. That was about a second of thought. The rest was occupied with sudden pain. Pyrrha slammed her shield against Harry's face, spun to the side with her leg kicked out, and knocked Murphy off her feet.

Harry staggered forward, cupping his nose. It stung, but was miraculously unbroken. His luck did not hold up.

Pyrrha's hand wrapped around behind him in a bear hug, and his entire world view flipped. Harry crashed to the ground, and Pyrrha quickly swung onto him. She raised her sword over head for the killing blow.

Harry felt rather amazed that this was how it would end. He always knew he'd die in combat, he just had expected something a little bigger, or sneakier, given the enemies he'd made over the years. Killed by an Amazonian warrior child with Magneto style powers hadn't even cracked the top ten.

"Oh no you don't!" Murphy yelled, and tackled Pyrrha off Harry.

The two women rolled across the floor and a flurry of thrashing limbs and steel. Murphy tried grabbing Pyrrha's arms, to pin them down. It was a bold effort, but even Murphy knew she couldn't hold a candle to Pyrrha's strength.

Pyrrha planted one leg against Murphy's stomach, and kicked. She flew across the hall and crashed into floor. Last minute thinking saved her from a broken limb. Murphy rolled with the landing and crashed into the cargo container.

"Right then," Harry said through clenched teeth, "That's enough of that."

He hauled himself to his feet, using his staff to steady himself, and called, "Pyrrha! Over here!"

The red-head twisted to face Harry, and launched across the ground. Not metaphorically, literally. One moment she was standing on the concrete floor, the next, she had propelled herself through the air directly at Harry. Her shield was held in front of her, like a big bronze battering ram, and her sword had transformed into its spear form.

Harry shook his left wrist to expose his shield bracelet. It was a chain made of braided strands of several metals, silver predominant. Metal shields hung from the bracelet, each individual one crafted from silver, iron, copper, nickel, and brass.

Several intense experiences had taught Harry to prepare for any unlikely situation, and his shield bracelet had evolved as a result. Once, it only protected against kinetic and magical energies. A bad encounter with a vampire and a flamethrower had nearly torched his hand to the bone, so Harry had whipped up new enchantments into his bracelet that could absorb most forms of energy.

The obvious downside was that it needed more energy to maintain a more complex form of protection. The upside proved itself when Pyrrha bounced off his shield like a pinball. The shield flared silver-blue where she impacted, but remained firm.

To Harry's slight irritation, Pyrrha did not crash to the ground. She bounced off the shield like she had _meant_ to hit it face first, and gracefully landed on the floor in a perfect three point landing. She didn't even drop her weapons.

"This is so unfair." Harry said.

Pyrrha looked at the air in front of Harry, her brow knitting together in thought. Harry kept the shield spell going while he thought of a way he could undo the glamour and get Pyrrha back to her senses. The easiest way would be water, but he didn't dare leave the warehouse. If Pyrrha got outside, she might go after random dock workers instead. No, he had to keep her here, in the nice dry warehouse.

Lovely.

His shield spark and Harry blinked. Pyrrha was carefully drawing her blade against the shield. Her eyes watched the wake of light and sparks that trailed the tip with surprising clarity. She was testing the shield, obviously.

Pyrrha looked at Harry once, then back at the shield. She took several steps back and crouched down. Harry smirked a little, and kept the shield going. Even she didn't have enough physical strength to break his shield. Trolls couldn't break it, she didn't have a chance.

She still charged him though, and jumped. Both her feet hit the shield with hollow 'bwong!' and she was launched back again. Her sword and shield fell from her hands and clattered behind Harry.

Despite himself, he smiled a little and said, "Just sit tight Pyrrha, we'll get you back to normal once you're done trying to kill us.

Pyrrha stood up from where she landed and raised one hand. In response, Harry raised a brow, "Um…Yes, the Force is strong with-Oh shit."

The realization what she was doing hit him hard.

Mostly in the lower back.

That jump maneuver had been a deliberate feint, to get her weapons behind his shield without him noticing. It had worked like a charm too, much to his humiliation.

Pain shot up Harry's spine, and he collapsed like a sack of bricks. With his shield down, Pyrrha calmly recalled Miló and Akoúo̱ to her hands, then walked over to him to finish what Murphy interrupted.

"Hey!"

Pyrrha ducked, and a cavalry sword spun by overhead, burying itself at the end of the corridor. She stood back up and glanced at where it came from.

The steel wall that she had used to pin Thomas had been pushed aside. He was unharmed, saved for some tears in his silk white shirt, and was striding towards Pyrrha with purpose.

"Stay away from the idiot, and I'll go easy on you," Thomas promise.

Pyrrha didn't say anything. She remained serene, and calmly stepped over Harry towards Thomas. He raised his hands fisticuff style and began circling left. Pyrrha raised her weapons and did the same.

Several silent moments passed between the two, neither making a move to attack. Harry watched them, and made no move to get up, yet. The last thing he needed, was to get Pyrrha's attention. Murphy did the same, and both watched as Thomas prepared to take Pyrrha on.

Pyrrha attacked first. Miló shifted into a spear aimed for Thomas's neck. He yelped and ducked right. Pyrrha slammed her shield into his chest at the same time and knocked him back. Following through with the attack, she twisted on her heel and performed a reverse roundhouse.

Thomas spiraled through the air and crashed to the floor. Pyrrha thrust Miló down at him, only to hit concrete. Thomas was already back on his feet, and the two began to exchange blows. At least, that's what Harry thought was happening, he couldn't tell.

Pyrrha was a blur of red and bronze, whipping through the air so fast he could barely make out her shape. Thomas was equally as fast, all fast kicks and punches. The only thing that Harry could make out was one detail. As fast and skilled as Thomas was, he did not land a blow on Pyrrha.

She ducked, weaved, and almost casually deflected his attacks. There was an elegant grace to it. Then Harry cursed as he understood what she was actually doing. Pyrrha was just toying with Thomas, learning his fighting style before she took him serious.

Thomas tried kicking Pyrrha with what some would call an 'axe kick'. His foot went up high enough to kick her chin. Pyrrha jumped back, and caught his foot as it came down. What happened next looked to be in slow motion, at least for Harry.

Pyrrha tossed Miló into the air, balled her now free hand into a fist, and punched Thomas at the fork of his legs. There was a solid, crisp cracking sound that immediately followed. Murphy winced, Harry ducked his head in sorrow, and Thomas squeaked.

He hit the ground a moment later, cradling his shattered family jewels. His vampiric rejuvenation would repair the damage, but no amount of supernatural juice could dull testicular pain on such a scale. Thomas, for the time being, was out for the count.

"Oh screw this," Harry hissed under his breath. He was a wizard damn it, he had powers and experience far beyond what Pyrrha possessed. Yes, she was an incredible hand to hand fighter, and yes she was just a young girl not in control of herself at the moment. But if she was allowed to run rampant, people could die. As much as Harry didn't want to do it, he was going to have to knock her out of commission in order to keep others safe.

He looked over his shoulder at Murphy. His blonde compatriot was already on her feet, but keeping her distance from Pyrrha. She had an idea of what Pyrrha could do better than anyone, and knew she was way out of her league. Harry looked back at Pyrrha, who had started ferociously rubbing at her eyes.

She knew something was wrong.

That would explain why they were all still alive, and not in tiny pieces on the floor. It also gave Harry time to plan.

He pushed himself up onto his knees and grabbed his staff. One scan over the corridor showed Harry that there weren't any weapons, obviously, and most of the crates were securely stacked. Except one.

At the top of the left side of the corridor, was a cargo container that was uneven. Its right edge hung over the side, not a dangerous angle, but enough that one well place shot could send it crashing down on Pyrrha. He looked at the girl again, who was still scratching at her eyes.

"Sorry Pyrrha," Harry whispered, "But it's for your own good."

He gathered up his will, pointed his staff at the near left corner of the container, and shouted, _'Forzare!'_

Unseen force lanced from the tip of his staff, and slammed against the container. The entire crater bucked to the side like a startled animal, and crashed back down with an ear splitting crash. Then, its balance off center, it started to slide down the makeshift hill. First it was a slow grind, but gravity quickly took over, and the it began to screech towards Pyrrha.

It didn't have far to go, but there was enough momentum to reasonable imitate a freight train barreling down on her. Pyrrha wasn't stupid though, and whirled in surprise towards the container. It came down too fast for anyone to see exactly what happened. All they saw was Pyrrha raise her hands and brace herself. Then the crate slammed into her and the wall of containers behind her.

The sheer mass of all those containers meant that one runaway crate wouldn't possibly move them. It did, however, utterly crush the one Pyrrha had been standing for, rather spectacularly. Steel crumpled instantly, and the rear of the container flipped on its end, then toppled over with a resounding thunderclap.

Harry stared at the mess of crates, his grip on his staff tight. He hated that he had to do that, and he hated that Torchwick had thrown him into a situation where he needed to do that. But Pyrrha would eventually have killed them, given enough time. There were simply no other immediate option, short of flinging fire at her, and Harry wasn't that cruel.

He sighed and felt a hand on his shoulder. A quick look confirmed it was Murphy. He shook his head and looked forward again. They both stared at the wreck in silence, until Murphy said, "You think she's alright?"

"I think she's tougher than most. She's healed from injuries faster than any normal human, and tanked explosions that sent Thomas on his ass. She'll be okay. Just unconscious, I hope."

"Right," Murphy said, and looked at Thomas.

The poor man had slowly unfurled himself, and was now struggling to stand back up. Harry and Murphy walked over to help him to his feet. He winced once he was standing, and readjusted his pants.

"T-thanks," he squeaked. His voice was an even alto.

Harry resisted grinning and just nodded, "Yeah. You gonna be okay?"

"I-I'll live." Thomas looked at the crash site, and shuddered, "What about her?"

"Same thing I told Murphy. She's tanked a lot that'd kill a normal human. I think she's okay, but we should start clearing the wreckage and find her before-"

That was when the humming started. It started low, a faint rumbling pitch that rolled through the floor and into Harry's very core. Slowly it rose higher and higher, until it was an audible groan, the sound of a dozen industrial presses. Then, the ground began to shake, and the wreckage shuddered.

"No, no way," Harry said. He took several steps back. Thomas and Murphy followed his lead.

"Empty night," Thomas breathed.

As if suspended by cables, the crate Harry had dropped on Pyrrha began to shift and move. It slowly left the ground, picked up by an invisible giant. The container it had smashed followed suit. Both soon floated twenty feet in the air, and standing below them completely unharmed, save for a few new tears in her sweater, was Pyrrha.

With both hands raised, she was near effortlessly manipulating two nearly full cargo containers, several tons, without breaking a sweat. There were neat perfect half spheres on the end of one crate and in the center of the other. In the time it took the crates to crush her, Pyrrha had created a bubble of magnetism that essentially protected her from the worst of it. Harry was honestly starting to wonder how powerful Pyrrha was.

Murphy started to back up, "Harry…"

"I didn't know she could do that!" he protested.

'Well she can! Now what!?" Thomas demanded.

"Run!"

A smart move, obviously.

Pyrrha dropped the crates and ran after them both. No game of cat and mouse this time, she was done with that. She scooped up Miló and Akoúo̱ and jumped. She careened through the air, and landed on the containers running along the corridor.

"Harry!" Murphy warned.

"I see her!" he yelled, and pulled out his blasting rod.

' _Fuego!'_

The small wand fired a beam of fire in front of Pyrrha. It tore a hole clean through the container behind her, but Pyrrha didn't slow. She jumped, putting her shield between her and the fire, and rolled to her feet on the other side, and continued without missing a beat.

"Bullshit!" Harry cursed.

Pyrrha jumped again, and landed feet first on Harry's back. Just another pain in his back, followed by further acquaintance with the floor. He made a good springboard for Pyrrha though. She flipped through the air and landed in front of Murphy.

Murphy, to her credit, rolled with it. She threw a punch as Pyrrha stood up, and it actually hit. She just kept running while Pyrrha was stunned, not dumb enough to stay for a prolonged conflict.

Thomas on the other hand…

Well, Harry had been left behind, and he was his brother and… Well, familial dementia is a strong motivator. Despite several parts of him screaming to run from the scary red headed amazon, Thomas turned around attacked Pyrrha.

Pyrrha deflected his first punch with a casual flick of her shield, and followed through with heavy uppercut. Thomas wasn't sure what happened immediately after, but he did remember his vision returning as he was soaring into the air…

Followed by Pyrrha punching him straight into floor. The very floor cracked under the impact, and Thomas was once again introduced to a familiar pain.

"What's your problem with my balls!?" he screamed.

Pyrrha ignored him, her eyes tracking Murphy as she ran for cover. The red head glanced up, glanced to the left and right, bit her lip in thought, then nodded. She took one step forward, pulled back her arm, and flung her shield like a Frisbee.

It spun through the air, bounced off the walls three times, and on the fourth hit Murphy square in the back of her head. Murphy fell face first on the floor. She did not get back up.

Pyrrha called her shield back to her, and casually equipped it. Around her, friends lay in pain and in Thomas's case, agony, and she was none the wiser.

Harry groaned and looked up. Pyrrha was stepping towards him again, and there was no one to save him this time. It was rather sad too. A glamour was one of the easiest spells for a wizard to counter. With the Sight, Harry could see clear through it, but Pyrrha didn't have the Sight. If he'd had some running water, that would've worked just as well. Water grounded magic, and a glamour would be shredded by something as simple as…

' _Oh Thomas is going to kill me after this,'_ Harry thought.

He looked up past Pyrrha, at the ceiling. Like any warehouse, there was a line of windows near the ceiling to let in natural light during the day. Had he looked minutes earlier, he'd have seen what he saw now. That the rain had returned in full force, and the only reason they couldn't hear the hollow 'tap-tap-tap' from the roof, was because Pyrrha had been firmly planting her foot up their collective asses.

But the rain was here now, and Harry was going to take advantage of it. He pushed himself onto his back, despite the screaming pain of his injuries. Once rolled over, he pulled his blasting rod and pointed it skyward.

Pyrrha saw the motion, and sprinted at Harry. He didn't know what she saw, and didn't have time to contemplate it. He just took one deep breath, and shouted, _'Forzare!'_

More unseen force whipped through the air, kicking up dust and loose flakes of paint in its wake. The roof buckled under the blow, and a patch of steel several feet wide was sheared off from the roof of the building.

Pyrrha landed on Harry's chest, and raised Miló overhead. Had Harry been a moment later, he might've died on that floor.

Instead, he and Pyrrha found themselves soaked from the rain, and several gallons of water that surged through the now buckling hole Harry had torn. It was a waterfall of filthy dirty water, but it was better than the alternative.

Pyrrha spattered and gagged at the taste of dirty rainwater, and wiped her bangs from her eyes, "What in the world was…was…Harry?"

She stared down in surprise at the wizard she was straddling. Pyrrha blinked and looked around at the chaos around her. Damaged cargo containers, shattered concrete, and Thomas cradling his devastated pelvis. She looked down at Harry, whose face was beginning to darken around the nose.

He gave a little wave, and Pyrrha blushed.

"Um… I'm sorry."

 **A/N: I'm not terribly pleased with this chapter. Expect and edited and revised version in the coming days, thanks in part to my own stubbornness and my newly acquired Beta Reader.**

 **That all said, there are aspects I like of this chapter, and I certainly hope you enjoyed it, even if it was just one big fight scene/homage. BTW, bonus points to anyone that can successfully guess what I was homaging in this chapter. Poor guys just can't catch a break in this story, and for those wondering, yes, something else is wrong with Pyrrha, as even she shouldn't have been doing as well as she was. This will be expanded on later, I promise.**

 **But the next chapter will be back to more plot stuff, some expositing, and the appearance of a character I cameo'd all the way back in chapter 2, I think. But that's for Tuesday. In the meantime, that's all there is today. No questions asked from the last chapter, surprisingly, but if you guys have questions today, leave them in your review. Or leave criticism, thoughts, jokes, etc.**

 **We authors feed on your reviews, so remember, more reviews equals more motivation!**

 **Not that I'd stop updating of course, I love you guys too much for that. But thats enough for now, I'm exhausted after cranking this bad boy out and need my beauty sleep. I'll see you all next Tuesday!**

 **In the meantime, Ta-ta for now!**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"I am so, so sorry!" Pyrrha apologized, for the seventeenth time in ten minutes.

Around her, Harry, Thomas, and Murphy lay against the cargo containers, recuperating from their wounds. The moment Pyrrha had come to, she had swiftly and calmly brought the three together and ensured their injuries weren't life-threatening. To her relief, no one seemed to be suffering from anything worse than a few bruises, though Harry insisted that they make a proper visit to Butters when they got the chance.

During all of this confusion though, Pyrrha had apologized profusely to them all. Murphy and Harry were slightly amused by it, but Thomas was growing grumpier with each one. This was understandable, given his more painful injuries. His voice had yet to return to its original pitch, even if the pain had faded.

"If she apologizes one more time," he squeaked.

"Thomas," Harry warned. If Pyrrha felt that apologizing would help at all, Harry was content to let her. The girl had suffered enough, and didn't need to be reprimanded for trying to fix what had been done.

Thomas huffed and looked away. Pyrrha hung her head and said, once more, "I'm sorry."

With a grunt, Murphy pushed herself to her feet and clapped Pyrrha on the shoulder, "Your fine kid. Not your fault, this magical BS always catches people like you and me off guard. Really, we should have checked Torchwick for magical items too."

She sent Harry a pointed look, and he sighed, "Yeah, I messed up bad there. I'm used to most crooks being pretty dumb about magic. I should've realized Torchwick knew more than usual once he recognized Mab's name."

"We lost him either way, no point in pointing fingers at anyone," Murphy said. This time the look was at Thomas, who was still pouting.

Murphy rolled her eyes and helped Harry up. Pyrrha stood off to the side, fidgeting in place, but she didn't move from her spot. After everything that kept happening, she was almost afraid to move at all. Every action she was taking seemed to end in gunfire or pain for these people. Standing in place seemed to be the only safe option for any of them.

It was a silly rationalization of course, and part of Pyrrha knew that. But she wasn't feeling particularly rational, she hadn't felt that way all day. She felt frayed and on edge, rightfully so of course, but the consequences of that were clearly showing themselves. If she had been smart, if she'd been at her best, Torchwick never would've thrown that enchantment in her face and they wouldn't have lost their only lead. Now, because of her, they had no way of knowing where Torchwick was getting his supply of Dust from, and they didn't have time to scour the warehouse. The fact that no one had investigated the commotion yet was a miracle, but they were pushing their luck standing around.

As if he read her mind, once he was on his feet, Harry said, "We need to get moving. Someone could come in and check on us at any moment. We'll have to come back another time and see what we find."

"Assuming the police don't tear it up when they show up," Thomas said bitterly.

"Yeah, assuming that," Harry agreed, and helped Thomas up.

Pyrrha though, frowned, "I'm…sorry. But why not try and work with the police, they must have resources and manpower we don't have. It's not uncommon to see back home, especially if Grimm are involved."

Harry let out a bark of laughter, "Yeah, not likely here. The parts of the CPD that don't think I'm a whack-job think I'm a charlatan."

Pyrrha cocked her head to the side, "But… you said you were a Private Investigator."

"I am," Harry said. "At least, that's my official occupation. I haven't had an actual case from the CPD in years."

"Especially not since they fired me," Murphy grumbled.

"Yeah, especially then," Harry agreed.

He saw Pyrrha's confused expression and sighed, "Look, long story short Pyrrha, the mortal world and the supernatural world don't mix. People just… can't wrap their mind around the idea."

Pyrrha frowned, "That's… silly. Wouldn't there be plenty of evidence to the contrary?"

"Supernatural doesn't like getting involved with the public," Thomas explained, finally standing up, "They keep to themselves. Calling in the humans is the equivalent of a nuclear bomb in the Supernatural world."

"I assume that's bad." Pyrrha said.

There was a brief exchange of glances, before Harry said, "Well… yeah, it's bad. Come on, I'll explain more in the car."

Pyrrha followed the others to the exit, mulling over what she'd been told. The idea of hiding things like magic, vampires, and other supernatural monsters from the world sounded ludicrous. People had a right to know about things like that, so they could react more with more than just fear and confusion. While the governments of Remnant all had their secret, things like the Grimm and the power of Aura were common knowledge to anyone that wanted to know more about them. No one would hide something as dangerous and powerful as magic from the public, it would have too many ways it could go wrong. At least, that was what Pyrrha thought.

They managed to find the exit after retracing their steps, passing through the destruction their fight had wrought. The cargo containers were still misshapen and strewn about. One had burst open on landing and spilled its contents everywhere. Pyrrha paid it no mind, more focused on how she'd managed to accomplish such a feat.

In the heat of the moment, she had power to lift several thousand pounds if she needed to. But those crates had to be closer to fifty or sixty thousand pounds' worth of material, way beyond what she could hope to lift. Which begged the question of where she had gotten the power to do so, and why she didn't feel tired from doing it.

Using too much of her Aura would put Pyrrha down for hours if she wasn't careful. It was different than if it was 'shattered' from too much abuse. The difference was as simple as comparing boxing to weight lifting, but with deadlier results. It still didn't answer why Pyrrha was tired, but truthfully, she had no idea why and felt she would never get a true answer on the subject. It had been that kind of day.

The universe did not play to Pyrrha's expectations though, as it so rarely did. As their group finally found the exit, a wave of fatigue washed over Pyrrha. Exhaustion filled her limbs with lead, and she felt her hands go numb with familiar exhaustion.

"Oh there it is," she breathed, and collapsed against the nearest container.

"Pyrrha?" Murphy was back at her side deceptively quick. Pyrrha briefly noticed that she had collapsed against the floor, before the exhaustion returned.

Murphy put the back of her hand against the girl's forehead, "No fever, she must just be tired from…everything."

"Right, she's the tired one," Thomas grumbled.

Harry sent his brother a look, "Not helping."

"Pyrrha, can you hear me?" Murphy asked.

Her voice was a little muffled, but Pyrrha could hear her. She nodded, and felt her eyes grow heavy. Everything was so heavy. Murphy said something again, but she really couldn't make it out. Maybe she'd find out after her nap…

A pulse of frigid shook her very core, and Pyrrha jerked awake, "What!?"

Quickly looking around, she saw that her position hadn't changed. She was still sitting against the crate and the others were gathered around her, save Thomas. Murphy's hand was pulled back in obvious preparation for a slap, but when Pyrrha woke up, the hand dropped and Murphy looked relieved.

"Oh thank God, you're okay."

Pyrrha clenched her hand over her chest and grimaced, "I wouldn't say that…"

Another pulse wracked her body, that same icy chill. Pain flowed from her center, returning life and feeling to her limbs. The numbness in her fingers was beginning to fade, and she felt, if not energized, alert.

"Come on, help her up," Murphy ordered Harry. Together, the two helped Pyrrha to her feet, where another pulse made her yelp.

Her chest felt like someone was stabbing it with frozen steel. Every pulse sent the rivers of ice flowing through her veins, and her fingers curled tightly around Harry's wrist until it creaked.

He grunted and gently pried her free, "Pyrrha, what's wrong?"

Another pulse, and Pyrrha let out a strangled gasp, "Don't know…something in my chest. Very cold…"

She didn't pay attention to what Harry or Murphy said. The pain had her attention, and she focused on it. It didn't take long for her to discover two things. One, that the pain was centered around her heart, and two, that it was not so much a pulse as it was a tug. Something was grabbing at her.

"H-Harry," Pyrrha stammered, "I need you and Murphy t-to let me go for one moment…Please."

The wizard and the former cop looked at each other and then at Pyrrha. The girl was pale faced, wide eyed, and looked exhausted. Given how she had been firmly kicking their asses minutes ago, it was a stark contrast. But, she was never one to try something without a reason, they had learned.

So, Harry sighed and said, "Sure. Thomas, can you get the Hummer ready? We'll be out in a few minutes."

The vampire sighed and began to walk off, "Yeah, I'm on it. Just try not to get arrested again Harry."

"No promises!" he called after Thomas.

Murphy and Harry released Pyrrha once Thomas was gone. She swayed back and forth, slowly orienting herself in the direction of the pull. Gradually, Pyrrha turned around until she was facing the very container she had been using as a wall a moment ago. The pull remained the same, but instead of pulling her back, it strained against her chest, beckoning her forward.

Without a word, Pyrrha pulled Miló from her back and slashed a diagonal gash along the containers edge in a shower of sparks and shrieking steel. Harry and Murphy jumped back in surprise.

"Pyrrha, what-"

Using her Semblance, Pyrrha peeled the container open and exposed its insides. The moment she did, the pulling in her chest stopped. Pyrrha let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding as the pain finally started to fade from the ends of her arms and legs. It took some concentration to keep herself from crumpling in relief on the spot.

Her relief did not last long, as what was calling to her was revealed.

Inside the container, was a small circle of fresh chalk. It surrounded a perfectly square stone, its surfaces a glossy black etched with dozens of scarlet runes. The runes pulsed in steady rhythm to an unknown beat that only Pyrrha could feel. But strangest of all, was what was above the stone.

At first glance, it would appear to be nothing, an absolute absence of color, texture, light, or substance, simply nothing. Staring at it made Pyrrha's eyes hurt, so she looked at its edges instead. The edge of the object suggested it was a circle or sphere of some kind. They had substance, but it was impossible to guess what it was. Sometimes it was merely waves of heat, sometimes things that looked up were suddenly down, left was right, inside was outside, and sometimes it appeared as nothing but a faint light. All within a handful of seconds, so fast that Pyrrha couldn't keep focused on it.

"What is that?" Murphy winced, "It hurts just to look at it."

Harry was covering his eyes with one hand, taking no chances with this thing, "It looked like a portal to the Nevernever mixed with Mordite… I don't know what it is honestly, but it can't be good."

Pyrrha agreed, and yet she still felt drawn to it. The pull in her chest was an ache, a longing, so familiar. It was a longing for home, for friends, for what she had left behind. Which was absolutely ridiculous of course, but her curiosity was strong. The pull in her chest tugged in rhythm with the pulsing runes, so there was a relation. Maybe if she got closer…

Murphy was the first to look away from the sphere and see Pyrrha move forward. She reacted appropriately.

"Pyrrha, wait!"

Too little too late.

She only had to take a few steps forward, and the sphere reacted to her presence. Its form shivered and writhed, a predator unfurling itself to devour unwary prey. Edges split, light spilled from within its nothingness, and like a flower, it blossomed before their very eyes. Seven strips of nothingness, surrounding a source that was both dark and light, night and day.

Pyrrha's third step brought about the final change. The light within swirled in a flurry of colors, taking shape into something new, something unexpected. A crystal clear image of a lake on the cusp of sunset.

Tall evergreens lined its picturesque waters, and faint cirrus clouds lined the sky like brush strokes. At the center of this image, was a camp site. The beginning of a fireplace had been formed, and tents were neatly pitched and…

Tears welled up in Pyrrha's eyes, and the ache in her chest exploded into a longing need. Within the picture the circle showed them all, was a lakeside camp built by her friends and teammates, and she could see them setting up for the night.

Pyrrha stopped moving forward, and merely watched, clasping her hands together and letting the tears flow down her face. Harry and Murphy stepped up beside her, staring at the image in wonder.

"What… are we looking at?"

Pyrrha sniffled, "A…lake. Looks like t-the geography of Vale, if I had to guess…"

Murphy looked at the young woman, and asked in a careful tone, "And the people in the camp?"

"F-friends…" Pyrrha whispered.

She said it and knew it was true, even if her friends had changed since she last remembered them. Collecting firewood on the perimeter of the camp was a tall young man and shorter young woman.

The young man had long black hair with a strip of magenta that matched his eyes. His hair was longer than Pyrrha remembered, coming down to his shoulder blades, but barring that, Lie Ren had barely changed at all since she last saw him. Still slim, still lean, and with the same ageless features. He was dressed in a simpler green tailcoat with golden trimming, pink cuffs, and a black collar, He wore white slacks, as usual. He moved with a calmness about him, every movement careful and precise, no energy wasted on unnecessary movement.

His companion on the other hand, flitted from every piece of wood with an unnatural speed and boundless energy. Nora Valkyrie had grown her hair out a little longer, and added battle armor to her usual attire. A simple steel breastplate covered her chest and she'd added full metal gauntlets and boots to her ensemble. She looked slightly taller, but was practically the same otherwise.

While they gathered firewood, someone else was unpacking tents, the last person Pyrrha had expected to see with her teammates.

Ruby Rose, leader of team RWBY, was finishing the last of the tents, and wore a small smile on her face. She was the youngest student at Beacon Academy, and the intervening time had affected her more than the others. She had gained an inch or two in height, and let her dark red hair grow down to the back of her neck.

Her outfit had changed as well, replacing the all black gown she'd once worn with a white blouse, and black corset skirt combo. She wore tights that had seen wear and tear, and new black boots. But she still wore her iconic red cloak, that hadn't changed, even if its edges were frayed and damaged.

"Huh," Harry said, looking over the assembled teenagers, "They're…quite the colorful bunch, aren't they?"

Pyrrha swallowed and said, "I… don't understand why they're here instead of at the academy… or why Ruby is with them." She didn't mention the absence of her last teammate. Her eyes desperately scanned the scene for him, but saw nothing.

"Ruby the red head?" Murphy asked.

Pyrrha nodded, "Yes. She… she leads her own team. I don't know why she'd be with my teammates, not without her own team."

"Different camp maybe," Harry suggested.

That could be, and Pyrrha was about to say so, when the last member of her team entered the clearing from outside the camera's view. A tall young man with shaggy blonde hair and bright blue eyes, he wore jeans and a long sleeved black shirt that he must've traded in his hoody for. Over it, he wore plates of white armor on his arms and chest, and a new set on his legs. Most surprisingly though, was the faint stubble around his chin and jaw, that gave him a…roguish charm. Pyrrha wasn't sure how she felt about that. Yes, her priorities were certainly in order, why would you ask that?

The young man carried several large bags of what had to be supplies, and set them down with a visible relief. Then he headed to the fire pit and got to work.

"Um, we're kind of lost here," Harry said.

Pyrrha blinked and realized that both he and Murphy were still there. She blushed and said, "I'm sorry, it's just… so good to see them again."

She listed her friends in the order she saw them, "Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Ruby Rose, and… Jaune Arc."

"Huh, so that's Jaune," Murphy murmured, "He's kinda cute, I can see the attraction."

Pyrrha's face burned and she stuttered uselessly. Harry ignored the comment and strode forward. He held out his left hand in front of him, and whistled softly.

"I've got to say, there's a lot of magic in this thing. If it works like a Nevernever portal, then it needs all of it to keep it constantly maintained."

Pyrrha blinked, "Wait, portal? Do you think I could…?"

Harry saw where she was going with that, and shook his head, "I wouldn't risk it Pyrrha. We don't know enough about this thing. For all we know, it could vaporize you if you tried to pass through it."

He tapped the ground near the circle, "Besides, break the summoning circle, and you could release all the mojo trapped there. Then you'd _really_ have a problem on your hands."

Pyrrha ground her teeth and said, in a very tight tone, "Then what do you plan on doing?"

Harry held his staff in both hands, and said in complete deadpan, "Imma smash it with my staff and see what happens."

Murphy and Pyrrha stared at him. Harry grinned in response.

"…You…can't be serious." Pyrrha said.

Murphy pinched her nose, "Don't say that, he takes it as a personal challenge."

"She's not wrong," Harry agreed, and turned back to the rock.

Before he could go caveman on it, Pyrrha walked up next to him and gently grabbed his shoulder. He looked back at her, and her puffy red eyes, and braced himself for what she was about to say next.

"Just a few minutes. Please?"

Harry sighed and lowered his staff, "Damn it, fine. Five minutes, then we need to go." He couldn't help it, if a girl gave him the puppy dog eyes, he was putty in their hands.

Pyrrha smiled. "Thank you."

Harry just grunted and stepped back. Pyrrha looked back at the portal, watching her friends. It was odd, as far as she remembered, she had just seen them less than a day or two ago. Yet she felt like she hadn't seen or heard from them in months, which would be ridiculous.

Unless what Torchwick had said was true, that it had been months since the Vytal festival. What had Pyrrha done in the intervening time since then, what memories were blocked away in her mind by Black Magic? And if her friends were out of the Academy, what had happened to the others from the school, to their friends and their family?

Pyrrha felt a pang of guilt when she thought about family. In all the chaos and confusion, she'd barely thought at all about the family she'd left behind. If four months really was how long she was gone, how had her mother faired, and did she even know that Pyrrha was gone? She didn't live in Vale, and if something had happened to the Cross Continental Transmit System, (Or CCTS for short) then she would have no idea anything had even happened to Pyrrha.

' _Oh, Mom, I hope you're okay.'_ Pyrrha silently prayed.

The portal puled again, and the petals began to wriggle and morph, rotating clockwise until the next petal had assumed the position of its predecessor. The image before her changed in time with the rotation. The serene lake and her friends vanished from sight, quickly replaced with a small village of stone houses and cobblestone paths. An ancient swamp surrounded it from all sides, and even though no sound passed through the portal, Pyrrha could hear the chorus of frogs and crickets that would serenade her to sleep every night.

The view had changed from Vale to Mistral, her home kingdom, the land of swamps. Pyrrha knew the streets of her hometown well, for after several years of moving from city to city, she and her mother had returned there instead. The view shifted with Pyrrha's reminiscing, following the cobblestone path through the village, passing taverns, shops, and farmers markets, pass them all. It followed a winding path to a grassy plateau where a small stone manor stood.

A steel gate surrounded most of the plateau, put there by Pyrrha herself years ago. The manor was two stories high, with many windows and a very humble design. It resembled more of a farmers house, than a manor, which was fitting. Surrounding it on all sides were rows of ploughed fields where dozens of plants grew together, despite such impracticality.

Beside her, Pyrrha hear Harry say, "So, pictures moving. What are we looking at?"

"My home." Pyrrha explained.

"You're a farmer?"

"No, the garden is my mothers. She grows and sells food to the village. Her Semblance lets her influence the growth of plants. No matter the season or weather, she can make any plant grow. We've been the main food supply of the village since I was fifteen."

The view changed again, falling behind the manor and passing over a field of olive trees where it centered on a familiar figure.

She was tall and wiry, wearing sun-bleached overalls and a faded green shirt. She wore a straw hat and her long red hair fell to the back of her calves. Unlike Pyrrha, her hair was streaked in various shades of red from time spent in the sun, and her olive skin had begun to wrinkle. But she still moved from each plant with an almost childlike energy, and the most prominent wrinkles were the laugh lines on her face. Just like Pyrrha, her eyes were a startling green, albeit, faded with age.

From tree to tree she moved, trimming branches, checking irrigation, and softly singing to each one. Pyrrha could not hear what she said, but knew that her mother always sung when using her Semblance. A habit she had picked up when Pyrrha was much, much younger.

"And that's her?" Murphy asked.

Pyrrha smiled and nodded, "Yes, Viridia Nikos. I wish…"

In all honesty, Pyrrha didn't know what to say. Her mother was still alive and well, her garden was intact. Did she know then, that Pyrrha was missing? Had anyone bothered to tell her at all? Or was she focused on her garden to ignore the pain, fear she must be feeling? Pyrrha didn't know, but damn it, she wanted to!

She felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Harry, and he said, "I swear on my power Pyrrha that I will find a way for you to get home."

Feeling tears well up in her eyes, Pyrrha forced herself from crushing Harry in a hug there and then. She had enough emotional breakdowns for one day, she did not need to add to them. So instead, she smiled as she watched her mother work.

"Thank you, Mister Dresden. You're a good man."

"Well, he is definitely a man," Murphy agreed, practically appearing out of nowhere next to him, wearing a big grin.

Harry rolled his eyes and looked at Pyrrha, "You see all you need to kid?"

Pyrrha nodded, "Yes, I just wish I could communicate with them somehow."

The moment the words left her lips, the portal screamed and writhed in response. Each individual petal twisted and writhed. The image vanished from view, and the crate began to vibrate. The three wisely stepped back, watching the portal with surprise and more than a hint of worry.

Once, twice, three times the portal pulsed and hissed, and then…

Spat something at Pyrrha's face.

Then its petals wrapped around the portal once more, returning it to an unsettling nothingness. The warehouse felt eerily silent.

"…Well that was a thing." Harry finally said.

"Wonder what that was all about?" Murphy wondered.

"Um…" Pyrrha replied.

They both looked at her, and what she held in her hands. What the portal had spat at her, was a small white object that fit into the palm of her hand. There was a golden diamond in the center of it and a seam split along the middle.

Murphy frowned, "Pyrrha, do you know what that is?"

The red head nodded, and grabbed either end of the device. Slowly, she pulled either end apart, to reveal a translucent screen between both ends. She pressed her thumb against the golden button at the bottom, and the translucent screen lit up with a blue background. Text flashed across the screen.

 _User Recognized: Hello, Pyrrha Nikos_

"It's my Scroll," Pyrrha explained.

"That like an iPhone?" Murphy asked.

Pyrrha blinked, "A what?"

"Communication device, lets you access the internet, that kinda stuff." Murphy explained.

"Well, that would be accurate, I suppose. Though they access the CCTS instead, I don't know what this 'internet' is."

Harry promptly took two steps away from Pyrrha, "Either way, sounds hi-techy. You should probably keep that thing away from me, unless you want it to explode in your hands."

Pyrrha raised a brow at Harry, and pointed her Scroll at him. He raised his hands defensively, "Hey, whoa, what did I just say?!"

"Seems to be running fine to me," Pyrrha said, stepping forward until her Scroll was tapping Harry's chest.

"Wait, really?" The tone of surprise in Harry's voice was comical.

Pyrrha smiled and began flipping through the Scrolls list of contacts, "Yep. Maybe it's because it runs on Dust instead? Your magic _is_ very similar to a person's Aura, it seems. Maybe that's why."

A thoughtful expression formed on Harry's face, "Huh, how about that…"

Before he could descend into thought on those implications though, Murphy interrupted him, "Very cool, but we should get moving now. We've wasted enough time."

Harry nodded, "Right, all wizards and minors should evacuate the premises. We'll discuss this later."

He marched over to the portal where the Blackstone rested, and crouched next to it. He kept his left hand extended as he did, and casually smacked the stone with the end of his staff. There was a brief scream from the portal, and then it vanished. The Blackstone toppled out of the circle, and its ruins faded into its smooth surface.

"Huh, that was surprisingly easy." Harry said. He grabbed the stone with a cloth from his duster, and slipped it into one of his pockets.

"Welp, let's go."

Pyrrha finished flipping through her scroll, and pressed the center button before shutting it again. She wasn't sure if a message could ever get out, but there had been a signal, and if it wasn't from Harry's world, then maybe it was passing through the portal. Unlikely, but Pyrrha certainly hoped her message made it.

The three of them finally left the Warehouse together, sneaking their way back to where Pyrrha had pealed open the fence, only to find Thomas standing there, and a hole in the sidewalk. And no Hummer in sight.

Harry tapped his staff against the ground, "Um, Thomas? Where's the car?"

Thomas kicked the ground, hard.

"That son of a bitch stole it!"

 **A/N: So this chapter went through a dozen different variations before I decided to cut some of the scenes, hence why it's being posted today instead of Tuesday. Next chapter will be fairly exposition heavy, and shorter than usual, so I should be able to post it tomorrow, I hope.**

 **Anyway, lotta things happened here, obviously. Some bigger than others, some we won't touch on until as late as the second volume. Either way, you all now know that yes, I am using the new designs from volume 4. As we don't know much about the rest of Team RNGR's new designs yet, save for Ruby, I've taken liberties with them. If you think I should change what I've come up with, lemme know in the review with suggested ideas. After all, that portal was pretty shifty, not everything we saw might have been true...**

 **Moving onto questions, as we actually have a few this time I think:**

 **Well okay, only one, from Velzon who asks: Any other characters from RWBY going to show up, besides Pyrrha and Torchwick?**

 **I do believe you have the answer to your question my friend.**

 **And to all those who guessed correctly on which show I was referencing last chapter, you get a digital cookie.**

 **That's all for now though my friends, I will see you all tomorrow, hopefully, and barring that, this Saturday. Remember to leave questions with your reviews, they help motivate and inspire!**

 **Ta-ta for now!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Thomas had already called a taxi before the three of them had arrived, and it picked them up shortly afterward. The driver hadn't said a word at the sight of one six and a half foot tall man with a wizarding staff, a bruised blonde woman barely over five feet, a red headed Amazonian complete with sword and shield, and an excessively handsome vampire in torn silk clothing. In Chicago, such a sight was called 'Tuesday'.

The taxi drove them back to Thomas's place, where they dropped him off at his apartment. He had taken a beating that day, and in his own words, was running on empty. They said their goodbyes, and Pyrrha apologized again for the injuries she inflicted on him.

Thomas sighed, "Don't mention it kid. Really. You don't talk about it, I won't talk about it. Sound good?"

Pyrrha smiled, "Yes, that sounds fantastic."

The others said their goodbyes, before Harry, Murphy, and Pyrrha returned to the Blue Beetle. To Harry's relief, it remained completely untouched. While he knew no one would come after an old bug, seeing Thomas get his car nicked had made Harry a touch paranoid. Well, more paranoid than usual. Point was, he was happy to see the old girl in one piece.

Everyone piled in, and Pyrrha asked, "So where to now?"

"Apartment," Harry looked to the sky, which was beginning to grow dark. "We've spent enough time out today, and I'd like to look at this stone we found."

Pyrrha frowned, "But shouldn't we be investigating those attack sites as soon as possible?"

"Not if we're tired and exhausted," Harry unconsciously rubbed at his back where Pyrrha's shield had bounced off him. He looked at Pyrrha and said, "Besides, you need your rest. You look about ready to collapse."

"What? Harry, I'm fine," Pyrrha yawned, and blushed.

The wizard smirked, and started the Beetle up without another word. The little car rumbled to life and they drove back to the apartment. On the drive, Pyrrha took out her Scroll and began skimming through the list of contacts and pictures. Better to make doubly sure that it was her phone, just in case.

After a minute, Pyrrha stopped and had to suppress a giggle, "Murphy, look."

She passed the device back to the blonde woman. Murphy looked at the screen, and let out a laugh, "You weren't kidding! Pink and frilly!"

"Um…" Harry said from the driver's seat, "What?"

"Pyrrha has a picture of her date on her Scroll. He lost a bet, so he went to their dance in a dress." Murphy explained with a snicker.

Harry blinked, "Alright then. Not what I expected to learn about today." He admitted, and parked the Beetle.

Pyrrha looked out the window in confusion. They were parked on the side of the street in an unfamiliar shopping district.

"This isn't your apartment." Pyrrha said.

"I hadn't noticed," Harry opened his door and got out. He peered back down and said, "I need to pick some things up if I'm going to analyze the stone. I'll be back in a minute." Then he shut the door.

Pyrrha leaned across the streets and at the building they had parked in front of. She frowned at the sign, "Um, Comicron-1. That doesn't look like a wizarding store. Why are we here?"

Murphy leaned back in her chair, "Harry needs bribe material. Trust me, it makes sense in context."

Pyrrha stared at her friend with a waiting expression. Murphy just shook her head and said, "You'll need to see it for yourself, otherwise you won't believe me."

"…Right…" Pyrrha settled herself back in her seat.

It wasn't long before Harry returned, with a small plastic bag that he handed back to Murphy. Pyrrha debated asking him what he had bought, but decided she would wait until they got back to the apartment. She found that waiting for the answers to come to her, while slow, could yield better results.

Luckily, the drive from the comic store to Harry's apartment wasn't much longer. They returned to the garage within minutes, and walked to the door. Harry paused to wrestle his keys out from his pocket, when a large grey-shape came rushing down the hair and shoulder tackled his shin.

"Oof!" Harry grunted, and leaned down to pet the grey thing. When he did, Pyrrha realized that it was in fact, a cat. A huge cat at that, bigger than some dogs she had seen.

The big cat pushed its head up against Harry's fingers and began to let out a rumbling purr. Harry just shook his head, "Someone's impatient today, ain't ya, Mister?"

"I never knew you had a cat," Pyrrha said.

Harry laughed, "I don't own a cat, the cat owns me."

She cocked her head to the side, "You're joking, right?"

"Mostly."

There really wasn't anyway to respond to that, so Pyrrha went with it. Harry eventually stopped scratching Mister's ears long enough to unlock the door. Mister raced inside and immediately claimed the couch closest to the fireplace, with a smug self-assurance only the feline species could muster.

"Right then," Harry said, tossing his keys on the table, "Let's get to work. Pyrrha, you might want to head to bed now, when a wizard starts wizarding, it can be dull for a non-wizarding individual to watch."

"I'd rather stay up Harry, I might have some information that could help." Pyrrha protested.

Harry walked over to alcove that housed his laboratory, and grabbed a cloth to handle the Blackstone. He set the rock on the lab-bench, and started grabbing items off the shelves. Plastic boxes and capsules, pouches full of material ranging from iron fillings to less than legal assets.

While he grabbed them, he said, "Fine. But go take a shower first at least. You've got a dozen different kinds of magic lingering on you. It could interfere with any spells I might whip up. Plus, your clothes are kind of a wreck."

Pyrrha looked down at herself and felt her cheeks start to burn. While no stranger to less than modest clothing, the day had not been kind to her outfit. She'd lost both shoes sometime during the day, her tights were ripped to shreds, her skirt was barely holding together, and the sweater she'd been given was a charred mess that exposed bits of her creamy skin in far too many pleasing locations.

"You make a forceful argument, Mister Dresden. I'll be back out in a few minutes." Pyrrha practically vanished, and the bathroom door clicked shut behind her.

Harry shook his head, "That girl is something else."

"She kinda reminds me of you, actually," Murphy said.

He glanced over his shoulder at Murphy, who had taken to reclining on the couch. Mister had decided his time would be better spent gracing Murphy with his presence, and had curled up on her stomach. Harry hid his grin and said, "Oh? I didn't think I was that pretty."

"Not like that, smartass," Murphy said, "I meant in personality. She's very powerful, even among her peers, has way too much baggage to deal with, has run in with Black Magic, and seems to have an obsessive compulsive desire to fling herself into harm's way to protect others. She's basically a female version of you, with decent manners."

"For the record, I have very good manners," Harry gathered the rest of his supplies, and turned around to the table situated in front of the fireplace. "I simply choose not to use them."

Murphy snickered, but turned her attention to Mister, which pleased him greatly. Harry finally got to work setting up a station on the table, with the Blackstone in the center and every item he might need formed in a neat semi-circle around it. At the center, a carved wooden skull had been placed with its eye sockets facing Harry.

The sight of the skull made Murphy frown, "You sure about that Harry? You've been very cautious about…well…"

"I can't go back to Butters and ask him to lend me Bob," Harry replied, "The guy is still at work, and I don't think Andi has ever forgiven me for trashing the place."

"You also attacked her and stole Bob," Murphy pointed out.

"It was for a good cause."

"It was dumb and pointless.'

Harry grinned, "Which are my specialties, according to you."

Murphy scowled at him, and turned her gaze back at the skull, "I'm just worried is all. This could be some nasty stuff, and you always said that at this age, being impressionable was kinda…"

Harry sighed, and let his grin drop, "Murphy," he spoke in a soft tone, "I know what I'm doing. I'd rather be out investigating the attack sites, but this takes priority. It could give us an insight into what we're facing, especially if we can't unlock Pyrrha's memories. It's our best bet at the moment."

Another sigh from Murphy, "If you think it's for the best Harry…"

"Think what is for the best?" Pyrrha asked.

Harry and Murphy jolted upright, and looked back at the girls voice. Pyrrha had showered and dressed in the pajamas Murphy had bought for her, a white t-shirt and short black pajama bottoms. A blue towel was wrapped around her hair, and she was practically glowing. It was amazing what a hot shower could do.

"Remember that thing I mentioned earlier?" Murphy asked.

Pyrrha raised a scarlet brow, "Yes, what about it?"

"Take a seat and you'll find out."

Skeptical, but very curious, Pyrrha did just that, sitting on the same couch as Harry and watching what he did next very carefully. She expected sigils, incantations, incense, usual wizardy stuff that she'd seen in movies and on television.

What she did not expect, was for Harry to lean forward, tap the wooden skull on the head three times, and whisper, "Morning kid, time to wake up."

Before Pyrrha could comment on _that_ though, something bizarre happened. Two green flames ignited in the skulls eye sockets, and it yawned. The disembodied skull yawned.

And then it spoke, with the voice of a young teenage girl.

"Hello, Father. I did not expect to see you today."

Something in Pyrrha's mind promptly snapped, and her mouth fell open in surprise.

"…The skull talks…"

Harry ignored her and smiled at said skull, "Well, I figured I'd check in on you, see how you were doing. I also need a favor, but that was no reason not to catch up."

The skull's fiery eyes narrowed, "This is not another surprise morality exam, is it, Father?"

"The skull talks."

"No, no its not," Harry said, smiling. He pointed at the Blackstone resting in front of the skull. "I have something I need you to look at."

"It is a stone," said the skull, in a very observant tone.

"The skull talks."

"Indeed," Harry said, gravely. "And I need you to look and tell me what you see about it. It's a very special stone, and people could be in danger if we don't find out what it does."

The skull somehow managed to cock its head to the side, "That is… bad, yes? People we do not know, being in danger?"

"Very," Harry confirmed, "And it would put our friends in danger too."

At this point, Pyrrha's mind snapped back into place, and she found her words again. Thus, she said, "The skull. Talks. No one else is surprised by this!?"

Murphy couldn't hold it in, not anymore, she started to laugh. Pyrrha felt her face heat up again, "What!? What did I say!?"

Beside her, Harry only chuckled a little, before taking pity on the poor girl, "Pyrrha, this is Auriel, she's a spirit of intellect, and the skull is her 'home'. She's not a talking skull."

Pyrrha stared at Harry for a long minute, piecing together what he said, before responding to that with, "You live in a very strange world, Harry."

"Pot," Harry pointed at her, then himself, "Kettle."

"What?"

"Never mind." The wizard turned to the sku- to Auriel, and said, "You remember Pyrrha, yes Auriel?"

"She was naked last time I saw her, but yes, I do, Father." Auriel confirmed.

Pyrrha, despite blushing, leaned down to the skulls level and waved, "H-hello…Auriel. It's a pleasure to…meet you."

Auriel clacked her teeth together and tried to smile, which was rather difficult to do when one lacked lips. She somehow managed to pull it off though, and said, happily, "She is very polite, Father, I like her."

"I thought you might," Harry smiled, then grew more serious, "But, we do have a bit of a time limit here. You up for an out of skull experience?"

The 'smile' faded a little, and Auriel looked dejected, "I do not know. I have very little experience outside my sanctum…"

Harry had a feeling she'd say that, which is why he revealed the plastic bag filled with comic books. Auriels fiery green eyes locked onto the bag with laser-like precision, watching it sway back and forth.

Harry grinned again, "It's the newest issues," he said in a sing-song voice.

"Supergirl issue number twenty-three and Wonder Woman thirty-nine?" Auriel asked. Her voice was trembling with excitement.

"And more," Harry promised, "But, you have to help me first, okay? Do your best, and I'll give them to you."

Auriels teeth chattered again, and she nodded furiously, "Okay okay okay! I will do it Father!"

Harry clapped his hands together, "Great, then you have my permission to leave the skull for this task."

The eye lights in Auriels skull went out in an instant. Green mist began to pour from the teeth and nose of the skull, reassembling into an almost snake like figure, with two twinkling emerald points of light where its eyes would be. The fog coiled around the Blackstone until it was nearly invisible behind it.

It only took Auriel two minutes before she retreated from the rock and back into her skull. Her eyes re-ignited, but looked significantly smaller. When she spoke, the tone came out slower and tired.

"The runes are in…Ancient Sumerian and… Assyrian… They are a spell for opening a gateway into the Nevernever."

"That's it?" Harry asked. He had expected far more, given what the stone had been doing. A gateway into the Nevernever was childsplay, but opening a gate into an entirely different dimension like Pyrrha's…

Auriel shook her head, "There is… more, but it is in a dialect… not of Earth… Like the stone…"

"So what, Heaven, Hell, Nevernever?"

Auriel yawned, "No. I have no…memory of this language… and the stone is…unnatural. Forged from…hatred…contempt…pain…loneliness… It is all intricately woven together into that one stone."

Her 'eyes' looked up at Harry with a pleading expression, "May I rest now Father? It is very tiring to leave my Sanctum."

Harry had started to stare at the stone with worry, but the sound of Auriels voice shook him from it, "Hmm? Oh, right, sure. Thank you very much Auriel."

He removed the comics from the bag and set them next to her. She clacked her teeth together one more time in content happiness, and then the lights went out and Auriel moved no more.

"…Well shit," Murphy said. "This case just got a lot more interesting."

Harry rubbed his chin, "One way of putting it. I'll have to see what I can learn from this thing. There are other tests I can run. Either way, I don't like what this thing is implying."

"Neither do I," Murphy agreed.

Then she smiled and said, "But before you do that, I think your guest is taking after your 'daughter'."

Harry blinked and looked at Pyrrha. The young woman had fallen asleep where she sat, the towel falling to the floor in a heap and her long red hair everywhere. She snored quietly, but gave no other sign she'd fallen asleep.

"Heh, not tired, right." Harry said, and gently nudged Pyrrha.

She snorted and jerked her head up, "I'm up, I'm up!"

She blinked a few times and brushed her bangs out of her face. Harry jerked a thumb over his shoulder, "Head to bed kid, you're exhausted. I'll take notes, if anything comes up I want to ask you, I'll ask you tomorrow, okay?"

Pyrrha started to protest, but Harry stopped her with a raised finger, "Pyrrha, you are a guest in my home, and as my guest, it is my duty to see to your health and care. If I let you push yourself into exhaustion, what kind of host would that make me?"

Shame crossed her face, and Pyrrha slumped forward, "I'm sorry. You make a good point."

"Of course I do," Harry agreed, "Now get!"

Pyrrha got, wrapping her hair in the towel and walking to her bedroom. She stopped at the door though, and turned back to Harry, "One question though."

Harry paused what he was doing and looked back at her, "Yeah?"

"Why did Auriel keep calling you Father? She's a spirit, right?"

Harry gulped and went pale, "Oh, that…um…"

He tried to think of a delicate way to explain his relationship with Auriel, but… Murphy beat him to the punch.

"Couple years back, Harry got knocked up by a fallen angel. Spent the next few years pregnant."

Karrin Murphy, Mistress of Tact.

 **A/N: A very short chapter, but I did get it up before midnight! Now then, as you all saw, we had some more questions raised, and some characters introduced. Admittedly, Harry's spirit daughter hasn't actually been named in the series, so I kinda went ahead and looked one up. Auriel can translate to 'Gold from God' in some tongues, and I figured that Harry, being the sentimental sap that he is, might name her that. Lemme know what you think in the reviews.**

 **Speaking of reviews, its question time!**

 **First, we have Rimmer Dall who asks: "No one would hide something as dangerous and powerful as magic from the public, it would have too many ways it could go wrong. At least, that was what Pyrrha thought."**

 **Didn't this occur after the events of Season 3?  
**

 **Well Rimmer, as has been mentioned before in the story, Pyrrha can't remember what happened after Ozpin called her to his office, so all the events of Volume Three are pretty much forgotten to her. Its a bit of dramatic irony that I was hoping people would pick up on.**

 **Next we have several questions from Parks98, most of which I can't or won't answer. But one I will be content to answer, is: When are we gonna get to see Harry cut loose against a Grimm horde?!**

 **If I have my way Parks, by the next two chapters. Look forward to it.**

 **Those are all the questions from last time, but don't be afraid to ask more my friends, leave them in your reviews and I will answer them here. And if you have no questions, leave constructive criticism, ideas, theories, anything you want to share. I enjoy your feedback and it helps me to grow into a much better author. Now, before I go, I will leave my standard warning here. Next chapter is going to be another Dresden File. First person perspective, lots of snarking, and it will primarily focus on Pyrrha and Harry as they head out to hopefully get her memories fixed. Yep, that's right, we're heading to the White Council next chapter!**

 **That's all coming this Saturday, so I'll see you then.**

 **Ta-ta for now!**


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

After Pyrrha stopped laughing, I finally ordered her into bed so I could work. The girl was nice and polite, but she was out of her league, and it obviously wasn't something she liked. But we've all got days when we realize that some problems are too big for us to handle, and my sympathy for her evaporated on account of all that laughing. I'm a thick skinned guy, I know.

Sending her away was pointless though. The night was another night of misery and failures, and I'm not referring to getting my ass handed to me repeatedly by a seventeen year old girl. The stone refused to give me anything, no matter what spells, enchantments, runes or other wizardly implements I poked and prodded it with. To the normal eye, it appeared to just be a normal black stone, and I wasn't dumb enough to look at something 'forged from hatred, contempt, pain, and loneliness' with my Sight.

The end result was me turning in at half-past late, and collapsing into bed with Murphy. She'd been patient with me all night, but had to turn in eventually. I felt a little bad about that, but we both knew that 'imminent invasion' took priority over the relationship, for now.

Her presence when my alarm clock began to shriek was greatly appreciated. The shrieking didn't even bother her. The orange bottle of painkillers by the nightstand were responsible for that. Murphy could put on a brave face, but it had been a long day for her too, and her injuries had caught up with her again. It'd be a few more hours before she woke up.

I slid out of bed quietly anyway, and grabbed my robe. A cup of coffee to wake me up, and I'd throw a few more spells at the stone before I woke up Pyrrha. I had promised to take her to the White Council that day, and we'd want to get going sooner rather than later.

After slipping on my robe, I glided out of our room as quiet as possible. The moment I shut the door, a chipper voice said, quietly, "Good morning Harry!"

I was too tired to jump, and just winced at the cheer in Pyrrha's voice. She was a morning person. Fantastic.

I slowly turned around and saw Pyrrha in the kitchen. The oven was on and I could smell bacon and eggs sizzling on a pan. Pyrrha was wearing a red t-shirt, black shorts, and a pair of sneakers. Her hair was still wet from the shower, and she still had that tiara. Also, her face was filled with that cheery happiness that morning people somehow possess no matter what ungodly hour they wake up at.

"Pyrrha," I said, trying to be polite as possible, "I can't stand the sight of you. No talking until I've had my coffee."

Pyrrha smiled, the kind of smile parents give their kids when they're being grumpy and difficult, "There's no excuse for rudeness Harry. Besides," she produced a cup of coffee seemingly from nowhere, and slid it across the counter. It came to a smooth stop by a plate she'd already prepared, "I heard you wake up, so I prepared breakfast for you. Consider it my way of saying thank you."

I sat down and grumbled, "Your welcome," and started chewing.

Half a cup of coffee and an entire plate later, and I was actually awake enough to hold a solid conversation. I set my mug down and rubbed at the bridge of my eyes.

"Exactly how long have you been awake, Pyrrha?" I asked.

"What time is it now?"

"Seven in the morning."

She pursed her lips, "About…two and a half hours."

I stared at her with the contempt I saved only for bureaucrats and teenagers. Remarkably, she seemed immune to my glares, so I quickly returned to my coffee.

"Exactly what were you doing for two and a half hours?" I asked between sips.

Pyrrha began piling her own mountain of food onto a plate and shrugged, "My usual morning workout. 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and ten mile runs, every day."

"…There's a special word for people like you. Unfortunately, you're a minor, so my sense of decency prevents me from saying it."

I was a bit grumpier than usual. I blame the crotchetiness that comes with age. Pyrrha took it in stride and sat at the island, still smiling.

"Regardless of my situation, I need to maintain my physique. There's no telling what we might encounter in the coming days, every bit of preparation helps."

I stopped mid-sip, and gave Pyrrha a good long look. She froze and returned the look, "…Yes?"

"Just looking for a halo or something. No teenager I've ever met speaks like that."

Pyrrha shrugged and resumed eating. Obviously she did not understand the necessities of witty banter between the average mortal and wizards, who are all grumpy to some degree. I would teach her the ways of snark to snark combat in the coming days. For now, I would redeem her silence by consuming the breakfast she had made, for only the fiery intestinal tract of a wizard could redeem it now.

It was several minutes into this silent eating, when Pyrrha set down her fork and asked, "So where are we going today, Harry?"

I scooped up the last of the eggs down my gullet and let out a content sigh before answering her. "You and me are going to the White Council Headquarters. The Senior Council might be able to lift the magic blocking your memories. Plus, I need to let them know about this Grimm situation we're in."

Pyrrha ignored my pun, and looked at her plate. The smile faded, and she spoke softly, "Do you really think they can help me remember?"

"I think it's worth trying. Memory blocks tend to be easier to remove, so unless someone really wanted you to forget why you were here, I don't think the Council will have any problem undoing the damage."

"Okay," Pyrrha nodded and the smile returned, "I'm ready to leave whenever you are."

The telephone cut off my response with a shrill shriek of alarm. I covered my face and sighed, "One moment please."

The infernal device was located by the fireplace. I hadn't set it up there, but hadn't had time to move it somewhere else, or buy a second one. No, I don't have one of those cellphones either, wizard plus cellphone equals sparks everywhere. Landlines though, tend to be more reliable.

I picked up the phone and said, "Dresden residence, Dresden speaking."

"Harry," a familiar baritone voice said over the line, "Its Will. You busy?"

William Borden was the leader of the Alphas, a group of college kids gone werewolf that helped me in a few cases. For a while, Will and the Alphas had mostly patrolled their college grounds, defending them from vampires, trolls, and the occasional odd pizza delivery man. They had started out with a dozen or so members, but over the years that had dwindled into three full time members and one operating behind the scenes. The rest had either passed on, or moved onto other avenues in life.

Will was a good friend and a trusted ally, but he and the Alphas were low-tier in terms of power, when it came to the supernatural. I didn't often involve them in my bigger cases, and since we weren't doing another D&D session until next Thursday, that meant he'd come across something the Alphas were reluctant to handle. I made three guesses on what that could be, and none of them were particularly pleasant.

"I've got some very important errands to run this morning, but I should be free by evening at the latest. Why, what's happening?"

I heard a sigh over the line, "Okay, alright. There's been some weird things going on around here Harry, attacks that are… different, than what we're used to."

Wills tone grew quiet, and scared, "I think… I think there's another loup-garou."

The loup-garou is another type of werewolf, a bloodline curse that would turn the afflicted into an unstoppable killing machine that could only be stopped with inherited silver. A decade ago, the Special Investigations branch of the CPD learned the hard way just how dangerous a loup-garou could be.

They were also incredibly rare, and bipedal. Which meant that it wasn't actually a loup-garou. It was probably Grimm, one of those wolves I had saved Pyrrha from. Great.

"Anyone hurt?" I asked.

"No. We chased it off for now, but that's the only thing I can think of. If it is, what do we do?"

"Hang tight," I ordered, "And wait for me to show up."

I glanced back at Pyrrha, who was reading one of the comic books I had bought for Auriel while eating. She was completely oblivious to the conversation. Guess I'd have to fill her in.

Will let out a sigh of relief, "Okay, just hurry, please. No telling who could get hurt."

' _Yeah, no telling,'_ I thought, but said, "Right. Keep an eye out until then. I'll see you later Will."

"See you soon."

I hung up and returned to the table. Pyrrha sheepishly looked up from the Wonder Woman comic. I tapped the table with my index finger, "Gear up. We're heading out now. After we're done at the Council, I've got a friend who just called about a Grimm sighting, I'll need your expertise."

Pyrrha's expression grew hard and she shut the book, "Of course. But I think you'll need pants first."

My eye twitched, "Yes. Of course. Pants first."

* * *

We left at a quarter to eight.

I was back in my duster, a pair of jeans, and my 'Intellectual Badass' t-shirt underneath. Pyrrha was going to strap her sword and shield to her back, but at my urging settled for a new backpack instead. Walking around with a wizards staff was one thing, but we didn't need the attention that obvious weapons would grab.

Yesterday we got lucky, but I wasn't going to take any chances.

We returned to the Blue Beetle, and to my surprise, the hood was popped back into shape, with only some scratched paint as a reminder of the damage. I looked at Pyrrha, and she just smiled happily in reply.

Huh, being a Good Samaritan actually payed off. What were the odds.

The drive was relatively quiet. We made some idle chit-chat, but there wasn't much to discuss, and I'd wait until we reached the Way before handing out directions. So I drove in silence, while Pyrrha had her nose buried in that comic. She had a small stack of issues she had borrowed from my desk and was tearing through them. I made a mental note to stop at Comicron-1 later that day.

Now, Ways are essentially paths through the Nevernever, an immaterial world that 'surrounds' the mortal plane. There, the laws of physics and logic are more like guidelines than actually forces of reality. Water flows upstream, ice burns, pigs fly, etc. It's a very dangerous place, filled with power-hungry Fae, hungry monsters, and occasionally hungry plant-life. But, if you can navigate it, the Nevernever is also an incredibly fast method of travel, which is a life-savor for wizards, since planes tend to disagree with wizards.

Due to the way the Nevernever works though, it's hard to figure where one point of it touches down, and where it could exit. You could enter the Nevernever in Paris, take ten steps to the left, and exit into the middle of an active volcano. Granted, most cases aren't that extreme, but the point is that you never know where most Ways will take you, and finding a stable one is exceptionally rare.

Which is why I found it especially fitting that the Way from Chicago to Edinburgh is located behind an old meat-packing plant. Some sort of cosmic force must've loved the irony in me using what was basically a giant butchers factory to head to the White Council.

I explained all of this to Pyrrha (Even the cosmic irony) when we got closer to the Way. We parked by the dark alley behind the plant. Every time I came to this place, I shivered. The sense of finality was very dark, very real. I tried to ignore, and we both exited the Blue Beetle. A concrete staircase in the middle of the alley led down to a door held shut with boards and chains. Still.

I looked at Pyrrha and her backpack, and shook my head, "Leave your weapons here. As far as the White Council knows, you're a young girl that's been influenced by Black Magic. If they saw you with weapons _and_ me, they'd get the wrong idea."

She looked reluctant to part with the bag. Understandable, it was one of the few things that she had from her world, besides that weird doohickey the portal had spat at her. Plus, if she was to be believed, she had built them herself. There was a sense of comfort in weapons like that, it was why I always brought my staff with me everywhere. Well that, and the Freudian sense of superiority it gave me.

After a moments debate, Pyrrha relented and tossed the backpack back into the Blue Beetle. We started down the stairs, and I closed my eyes for a moment. My otherworldly sense extended toward the section of concrete next to the door. I felt the familiar thinness of the world there, where energy pulsed and hummed beneath the rigid skin of reality.

I realized, as I gathered up my will and reached out my hand to the wall, that the Way wouldn't be as warm as Chicago was. Summer rains had helped dull the heat, and Pyrrha was dressed perfectly for it.

" _Aparturum,"_ I whispered, and opened the Way between worlds.

It's never as dramatic as it sounds. The concrete wall rippled with a quick flickering of color, and began to glow softly. I took a deep breath and stepped directly into the concrete, staff in hands.

I passed through solid stone, and emerged into a dark forest covered in a thin layer of snow. I was still thankful the ground in Chicago was level with the Nevernever. Only a three-inch drop, easily manageable.

"Eep!" there was a thud behind me.

I looked back at Pyrrha, who had _not_ expected the drop, and nearly face planted into the snow. She caught herself with the low hanging branch of a tree, and stood up. Her green eyes were alight with fascination. She barely even seemed to notice the cold, so apparently she was dressed fine for both.

"You going to be alright?" I asked her, just in case.

Pyrrha blinked and looked at the snow, "Oh. I'll be chilly, but my Aura will protect me from anything serious."

"Lucky girl," I noted, and added, "Stay close to me. There are…things, in the Nevernever that would love to get their hands on a young mortal maiden."

She took a step closer to me without comment. Now how hard was that, really?

I glanced around at my surroundings and confirmed that the woodside had not changed since my last visit. A hillside sank down ahead of us, and climbed steadily into the sky behind us. I knew that at the top of small mountain we stood upon, was a narrow and bitterly cold pass that led into the Unseelie Mountains, and by extension, Mab's stronghold of Arctis Tor. Even now, having entered the Nevernever, I felt a familiar tingle flow over my body. While it had grown silent in the pass months, returning to the Nevernever had stirred the Mantle of the Winter Knight.

Lovely.

Ignoring it for now, I lead Pyrrha down the path into the foothills and plains, where Mab's authority ended and that of Titania the Summer Queen began. We were at a crossroads, as was metaphorically appropriate, since we had come from one of the great crossroads of the world. One trail led upslope and down, the other crossed it at almost perfect right angles, and ran along the face of the hillside.

We went left, following the face of the hillside into a makeshift hall of frozen trees, branches bowing beneath their burden of frost and snow. I had enough past experience I could get through the path fairly quickly on my own, but with Pyrrha trailing behind me, I had to slow considerably. As a general rule, running through a forested path was just a Bad Idea, and a very good way to snap an ankle. Surprisingly though, we both passed along the path without any resistance in just fifteen minutes.

I turned off the path onto a foot trail at a tree whose trunk had been carved with a pentacle. Pyrrha followed me as the trees turned into evergreens and the trail grew crowded with low hanging branches and leaves. Tiny things moved out of sight among the trees, small scuttling noises, and I could barely hear high-pitched whispers and sibilant voices from the forest around us. Creepy, but standard issue Nevenever.

Pyrrha stopped for a moment, twitching her head from side to side. Without a word, she reached up and grabbed the nearest tree branch and snapped it off at the base. Then she heaved it in an Olympian style javelin throw towards the nearest chittering shape. There was a sharp crack, followed by a squelch, and the chittering fell silent.

I looked at her with a raised brow. "I've traveled down dark forests before. Letting the creatures in the dark watch never ends well," she explained.

"Fair enough."

Minutes later, we reached the end of the path at a clearing in the woods. There was a mound of earth about a dozen yards across and almost as high in the center, overgrown with vines and layered in stone. Large slabs of rock formed the threshold of a black doorway. In front of it, a large stump had been rolled into place, with two shorter ones placed on either side of it. A chess board rested on the larger stump and two young men sat across from each other, both dressed in grey cloaks.

One was a lean and fit-looking young man with sharp cheekbones and eyes of cobalt blue. Beneath his cloak, he wore a dark grey silk suit with an ebony-colored shirt and snow-white tie. A black bowler topped off the look and his silver headed walking cane rested against the stump.

The other was maybe a year or two the senior of his dapper young opponent, with naturally tanned skin, dark hair, dark eyes, and sharp edged features. In a word, he was classically Spanish, and was dressed in combat fatigues, with a camo jacket slung over a visible Kevlar vest. His expression was one of intense concentration, while the other young man wore a smug grin.

I took a step forward, and the suit raised a finger, "One moment, if you please, Dresden," he said smugly, in an accent straight out of Oxford. "Warden Commander Ramirez believes his battlefield experience lends him certain real-world experience that would allow him to best me of all people in a friendly game of chess. Here we are, twenty minutes later, and it would appear to be nothing more than hot air."

"It ain't over yet, Chandler," the Latin youth, Ramirez, grumbled under his breath. I took a look at the board and winced.

"How many moves?"

"I believe this is Ramirez's fifth, am I correct?"

"Sixth," Ramirez grunted.

I winced again, "Might as well turn it in now Ramirez, preserve some dignity."

"Don't bother," Chandler practically sang. "It's typical Yankee behavior. You colonial heathens never knew when to quit."

Ramirez growled, "Screw this!" and promptly flipped the board into the snow, scattering pieces everywhere.

Chandler looked unphased, and crisply crossed his arms, "Now now, that's not a proper move, Ramirez."

Carlos Ramirez stood up and smoothed back his hair. A cocky grin crossed his features and he said, "Yeah, but in a real fight you don't play by the rules. If you're in a bad situation, you change it until it's in your favor."

"And if you can't do that," I added, "Run like hell and hope the stupid bastard you're working with can slow them down. How's it going Ramirez?"

We clapped hands together, in a manly way, and that grin never faded, "Haha, good as always amigo, it's been too long. How's life Dresden?"

"The usual," I replied.

It was his turn to wince, "That bad, eh?"

"I've had worse," I admitted, and turned to Chandle. We shook hands, and he grinned as well.

"Glad to see you're still in one piece Harry. After the last Council meeting, we were almost certain you wouldn't last the year."

I raised a brow, "How certain?"

"Twenty-to-one odds." Chandler said, matter-of-factly.

"Ah, you guys are jerks," I laughed, it was good to see them both again. Chandler was the standard guard for the Way into Edinburgh, and he didn't get out much. Ramirez was the Regional Warden Commander for the Western United States. Since Wardens are basically supernatural policemen with swords instead of guns (or rather, swords _and_ guns) that made him the equivalent of the police chief for several states. Yet somehow he always managed to be cool and controlled, the jerk.

After a moments laugh, the two looked past me at Pyrrha. She blinked when she noticed them looking, and waved, "Hello!"

"That the girl?" Ramirez asked.

I almost raised my hand, but instead just said quietly, "She's seventeen, and a victim of Black Magic, Ramirez. Remember that before you do anything stupid, _Virgo_."

Chandler casually strolled by us both while whistling, and Ramirez tried to glare at me. It would've been more intimidating if he wasn't clearly blushing, "You're never gonna let that go, are you?"

"Nope. We clear?"

"Dude, come on." Ramirez said, "I have standards."

I glanced back at Pyrrha. Chandler was circling her, his pupils dilated as he used the Sight to check her for any traps, standard protocol. I took a deep breath and said, "I know, sorry. She's just had a rough time and-"

"-You get defensive when it comes to girls in trouble, I know man," Ramirez finished. He grinned at me, and I sighed. I was more tense than I expected if I was getting paranoid over something that petty.

Chandler came to a precise stop, clapping his heels together as he did, "Everything seems to be in order. You were right about the Black Magic Harry, but she seems perfectly safe otherwise. Possible magical potential, but we'll leave that the Senior Council to handle."

He bowed toward Pyrrha, "We will do everything we can to help, Miss…?"

She glanced at me, and I nodded.

"Nikos, Pyrrha Nikos."

"A very creative name I see," Chandler stood up again, "Now before I let you both pass…"

I sighed and faced him with a formal posture brought about by security protocol older than five centuries. "I seek entry to the Hidden Halls, O Warden. May I pass?"

Chandler gave a slow, overly-dramatic, nod, eyes sparkling with amusement. "Be welcome to the seat of the White Council. Enter in peace and depart in peace. Ramirez, you may leave now."

I raised a brow at Ramirez as he saddled up next to me. He grinned, "Hey, been a while. Figured I'd wait out here, keep Chandler company, and get a chance to meet up with old friends."

A smile tugged at my lips. It was good to see that even after all the insanity that had happened in the past few years, not everyone on the White Council had lost leave of their senses. I nodded my thanks to Ramirez and whistled. "Pyrrha, let's go!"

She silently flanked my right, and with Ramirez on my left, we walked forward through the archway, into whatever might be waiting for us on the other side.

 **A/N: An apology for missing Saturday. There's no real excuse in this case, save for me being lazy and going on a Stellaris binge. I sat down for a few minute break, next thing I knew it was one in the morning. It did not help that I've had to split this chapter into two parts. Next chapter will also be from Harry's perspective, so I apologize if you haven't been enjoying those.**

 **But, after that, we'll return to a third person narrative. Either way, things are about to get interesting, and we'll see if the White Council can actually get something done for once, if they'll be useless as always.**

 **Speaking of useless, despite googling it, I only just recently found out that the Dresden Files author actually DOES have a name picked out for Harry's spirit daughter, Bonea, which is Scottish for Beautiful and a pun on where she 'lives'. Its Bonnie for short, and I think I'll have to go back and change that. Let me know in the reviews what you think.**

 **Speaking of reviews, lets go over your questions!**

 **Arbl A-17 asks: Will the Nemesis be making any appearances?**

 **Possibly, is the only answer I can give.**

 **Next and lastly, Cowslayer had two questions:**

 **Who taught Roman how to make runes, and who gave him the orb?**

 **-And-**

 **Are any other non-humans going to show up?**

 **To the first, I say, why would I tell you that? I mean, it _is_ a mystery story after all. Kills the mystery if I spoil it, doesn't it?**

 **To the second, I say that yes, many more non-humans will show up. There will be plentiful numbers of non-humans in the future.**

 **Those are the only questions this time guys. Remember, any questions, any thoughts, I will gladly answer. Make sure its phrased right though, as it can be difficult to tell what's a question and what's just general musing. Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and please remember to leave reviews with questions, comments, or constructive criticism so that I may improve.**

 **See you all on Thursday!**

 **Ta-ta for now!**


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

The Hidden Halls of Edinburgh have been the headquarters of the White Council for centuries. The Council itself could trace its origins to pre-Roman times, in some form or another, and naturally, its headquarters has changed from time to time. Alexandria, Carthage, Rome, even the Vatican in the early days of the church. Numerous major seats of power in the past have been home to the Council leadership at one time or another. By wizard standards, they've only recently moved into the tunnels and catacombs carved from ancient Scottish rock.

To keep it simple, Edinburgh has a tunnel network more extensive than the ones found beneath Chicago, and far sturdier and stable. The main complex is directly located beneath Castle Edinburgh itself, where kings, queens, ladies, and lords have fought, betrayed, and slaughtered each other for generations.

The moment we stepped inside, Pyrrha visibly shuddered, like she'd stepped through a waterfall. She wrapped her arms around her chest and shivered, "What is that? Where are we?"

I felt the same shuddering rush of energy beneath my feet, similar to an enormous, silent subterranean river. My past experience made me accustomed to it, but as even someone with no magical talent could have felt the raw power that proliferated the halls, Pyrrha, with her… unique abilities, might have felt it stronger.

"Never been over a ley line before, eh chica?" Ramirez asked.

Pyrrha glanced at him with curious eyes, "A ley line?"

"Natural currents of magical energy that run throughout the world." I explained without turning around. "It's all raw magic, and _the_ most powerful way to employ it. Edinburgh in particular is a very big natural convergence. What you're feeling is just one ley line."

Her eyes widened, and she looked down at the stone floor, "Just one…?" she whispered. "And anyone can tap into them?"

"If they've got the magical talent, then sure. Anyone with enough skill can use a ley line to augment their abilities."

"Or if they're crazy enough," Ramirez added.

"Or if they're crazy enough." I nodded.

More out of habit more than concern, we all hurried over the ley line. The rush of energy gave the illusion of an invisible river trying to pull us through the tunnel and out into some sort of subterranean sea.

I did not need to summon light. Crystals set in the walls ages ago still glowed in a rainbow of gentle colors, bathing the whole place in soft, ambient illumination. The tunnel was ancient, worn, chilly, and damp. Water was always ready to condense into half frozen dew the instant anyone exhaled a breath.

The tunnel was wide enough for two, maybe three average sized people to walk through shoulder to shoulder, and maybe eight feet high. An uncountable number of bas-relief carvings lined the stone walls. Supposedly, they were renditions of scenes of what were historical high points of the White Council. Given my GED level education and general lack of interest in White Council history, I didn't recognize most of the people in the carvings, which didn't provide a lot of context for the crudely drawn cast of thousands. But those that weren't historical carvings were wards, seriously heavy-duty ones at that with enough power to make me walk through the halls with more than a touch of caution.

The entry tunnel from the Nevernever sloped gently downward for more than a quarter mile. Metal gates were spaced every couple hundred yards, each manned by a warden and backed up by a pair of Ancient Mai's temple-dog statues.

The things were three feet high at the shoulders, and wouldn't look out of place in a Godzilla movie. They looked like innocent blocky figures of stone meant more for intimidation or decoration, but I knew better, and should have thought ahead.

When we passed through the first gate, both temple-god statues sprung to life, shaking out their stony manes and cutting us off. The growls they made sounded more like rockslides than anything a canine would emit. Their gemstone eyes focused intently on Pyrrha.

"Stand down," Ramirez ordered the Warden in charge. She was a youngish looking woman, definitely from the new guard that had risen to challenge the Red Court during the war. She looked surprised by the temple-dogs reactions, so she obviously didn't have a lot of field experience.

She looked from them to Pyrrha, "The dogs-"

"The girl is a victim of Black Magic," Ramirez explained, "so they are likely sensing remnants of thaton her. Warden Dresden and I are taking her to the Senior Council to see if they can help resolve the issue."

"Oh, of course sir!" the Warden looked relieved, "I'll send word up the grapevine, it won't happen again."

Ramirez nodded and flashed a smile at her "See that it doesn't."

The statues relaxed and padded back to their original positions, returning to statue mode without any fuss. Pyrrha looked suitably nonplussed about the entire debacle she'd just seen. Most mortals were, though I certainly had no room to talk. Moving dog statues were out of my league too, and they'd scared the crap out of me when I was her age.

The rest of our march was uneventful, save for the polite greetings we exchanged with Wardens on guard, until we passed through the last checkpoint and entered the headquarters proper. That was when things got slightly more lively.

This would've been the part where I got out my map and started hunting down members of the Senior Council one by one. But, anticipating that the members I wanted to talk with wouldn't conveniently be in Edinburgh, I'd called ahead on the Warden channels to let them know about Pyrrha. I sometimes feel the people in charge of those lines hate me, because every time I call, things tend to go crazy.

The message had gotten through in time, and we found two members of the Senior Council waiting for us.

The first was a short, stocky man. White tufts of hair fringed his mostly bald head, and a white beard covered his mouth and jowls, stopping just at the base of his neck. His skin was hard and leathery from days working on his ranch, and coupled with his denim overalls and t-shirt, he looked like Merlin gone hillbilly. Even his staff was a gnarled piece of wood that was as rugged and aged as he was.

The second was a tall, lean man, his long hair was grey-white, with a few threads of black in it. His leathery skin was the ruddy bronze of a Native American complexion exposed to plenty of sunshine, and his eyes were dark and glittering beneath white brows. Today he was wearing faded blue jeans, moccasins boots, and an AC/DC T-shirt. A fringed leather bag hung from a belt running across his back.

They greeted us together, even as the short man stepped towards me first. He clasped my hand tight, and spoke in a thick southern accent, "It's good seein ya again, Hoss. Surprised you wound up coming here instead of us coming to you for once. The girl with you?"

I nodded and stepped to the side, "Pyrrha Nikos, this is Ebenezar McCoy, my former mentor and a member of the Senior Council."

A touch of warmth returned to Pyrrha's features, and she extended her hand. Ebenezar took it without hesitation, "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. Harry has done so much for me in the past few days."

"I bet he has," Ebenezar said. He shook his hand when Pyrrha released, raising a brow, "That's a mighty strong grip you've got there miss."

"Sorry, I'm nervous."

McCoy grinned, "D'ah, don't worry about it. From what I understand, you've been through Hell and back."

"Mind magic is often very stressful for the victim to deal with," his companion agreed.

"Listens-to-Wind, Pyrrha," I said quickly.

They shook hands as well, though Listens-to-Wind (Or Injun Joe, as Ebenezar called him) wore a more somber expression, "We shall do all that we can to help you, Miss Nikos, and see justice is delivered to the one responsible.. Once Warden Dresden has found the culprit, that is."

"One thing at a time," I said, and then looked around. "So is it just you two, or…? I mean, no offense, but I thought more of the Senior Council might be here."

Once again, my former mentor smirked, "Ah, well, see Hoss, the Merlin and Ancient Mai were gonna be here too, but some unfortunate business involving the Fomor popped up a few hours ago all the way in Italy of all places, so they left with a number of Wardens to handle it."

The Merlin and Ancient Mai were two of the oldest members of the Senior Council, and the Merlin was its leader. He wasn't actually _The_ Merlin. It was an elected position within the White Council. His name was actually Arthur Langtry, and he had been out to get my goat for a long while. So had Ancient Mai, though she was at least more reasonable about it. With them gone, this entire trip just got a lot easier.

Though they weren't the only irritants on the Council. I looked around for a moment before asking, "If they're out though, then where's Cristos?"

"An unfortunate case of Dysentery," Listens-to-Wind said. "He's bedridden at the moment, though he should be recovered within the next week or so."

I glanced at Ebenezar. He smiled innocently in return.

"Right. That explains where those two are, but what about the Gatekeeper? He's the Psychomancy expert."

Ebenezar scratched at his beard, "Ah, well you know how Rashid can be. If he's gotten your message, he might just be too busy to make an appearance, Hoss."

"Not at the expense of one afflicted by Black Magic, Wizard McCoy." a deep rich voice said.

We all did a double take at the figure who had seemingly appeared from nowhere to stand beside us. He was dressed in a dark purple cloak, and a purple stole, a mark of the Senior Council, was draped around his neck. His staff was nearly as tall as he was and made of a very dark wood I didn't recognize. He was very, very tall, one of the few mortals I've met who was taller than me. The hood of his cloak hid most of his face, but I could see the gleam of steel where one of his eyes should be.

"Well speak of the devil," I said.

The tall man glanced at me, "Warden Dresden." he greeted.

"Rashid," I replied, bowing my head slightly.

Rashid, or the Gatekeeper as most of the Council called him, was the final member of the Council. Of them all, he was by far the most mysterious, appearing in the Council once in a full moon, and rarely speaking when he did so. I honestly had hoped he would show up though. From the little I knew of the Gatekeeper, he was a very good, if busy, man. He would help Pyrrha, if he wasn't busy Gatekeeping.

The Gatekeeper flashed a very brief smile at me, and greeted his companions on the Senior Council, and briefly stopped at Carlos. "I do hope you've been behaving yourself, Warden Ramirez."

"Now why wouldn't I, sir?" Ramirez grinned.

"Hmph," The Gatekeeper grunted and finally looked at the elephant in the room. Pyrrha seemed talented in vanishing from a conversation when she wasn't being directly acknowledged. Probably a side effect of not having a compulsion to be the center of the universe.

She forced a smile, and followed my example by bowing her head, "Hello, sir."

The Gatekeeper tapped his staff on the ground once, and said, "Hello to you as well, Miss Nikos. If you would follow me, I will see what I can do for your...affliction."

Pyrrha blinked, "Just...like that?"

Rashid started walking, "Indeed. Come along, child, I have very little time to spare. Wizard Listens-To-Wind, your assistance would be appreciated."

Injun Joe nodded to the rest of us, and followed Rashid. Pyrrha looked torn, watching the two leave, then looking back at me. She had lost puppy-dog eyes. I smiled and said, "It'll be alright kid. He'll help you the best he can."

I saw a bit of her confidence return. Pyrrha straightened her back, nodded, and followed the two Senior Council members down the corridor. I watched them go with more than a bit of worry. Rashid was decent with mind magic, but any practice in the art walked a dangerous line that risked breaking one of the Seven Laws. He might be able to help Pyrrha, but if the enchantment was good enough, than this whole trip would be for nothing.

Nothing I could do about it at the moment though. I sighed and looked back at Ramirez and Ebenezar. Ramirez was still looking down the hall and said, "You know Harry, I'm starting to wonder how you are friends with so many attractive women."

"Seventeen Carlos," I reminded him, before turning to my former mentor.

Unlike Carlos, Ebenezar had a far more thoughtful expression on my face. He'd obviously already started putting details together. I never could get anything past the old man.

"You two follow me," he ordered, sternly, and set off at a brisk walk down the hall.

* * *

I should've realized I wasn't as clever as I thought I was when Ebenezar and Listens-to-Wind had met us at the entrance to headquarters. Even with my reputation, or rather, _especially_ with my reputation, the Senior Council is not that casual about meeting with anyone. That should've been my first hint.

The second was when Ebenezar ushered us into his personal study and locked the door behind us. His study is big and homy, with rows and rows of bookshelves lining the walls. Behind his desk, was another row of neatly arranged leather bound journals. I knew each detailed the life and times of Ebenezar's mentor, his mentor's mentor, and so on and so forth, all the way down to pre-Council times. Those ones looked like they'd fall apart at an errant breeze, let alone if they were read.

I looked back over my shoulder at Ebenezar as he locked the door. Once the tumblers clicked shut, he turned around and said, "Alright, Hoss. What's the deal with this girl?"

I grimaced, "That bad huh?"

"Hoss, you ain't ever been a good liar." Ebenezar said. "I knew something was up the moment you called the Council for help. Once I met the girl, I could feel something resembling the Gift, but… different. Something I ain't ever felt before."

"You noticed something was off too?" Ramirez asked, before hastily adding a "sir" to his question.

"She ain't a vanilla mortal, that's for sure."

Ramirez snickered, "One way of putting it. Her eyes are a dead giveaway too. I've heard of emerald-eyed redheads, but I've never met one who had a _glowing_ set."

They both looked at me, and I felt very on the spot. Which was probably the point, but still, I'd hoped to get Pyrrha in and out without telling the Council anything more than necessary. I wanted to get a full idea of what I was going up against before they decided to stick their noses into it. Still, if it was a choice between being interrogated by the Merlin, and sharing information with fellow conspirators, I'd go for the latter option in a heartbeat.

So, I took a deep breath, and said, "You'll need to sit down for this. It's a bit of a long story."

Ebenezar grabbed one of his chairs from in front of his desk and took a seat, Carlos leaned against the door with his arms crossed, and I leaned against the heavy oak desk, setting my staff beside me.

From there, I explained everything that had happened over the past two days. Rescuing Pyrrha, nursing her back to health, learning about her world and the Grimm, discovering the threat they possessed, and that they'd been invading for months. I left out the bit where Pyrrha was tricked into using me and my friends as a personal punching bag, because hey, a guy needs to preserve some measure of dignity.

As the explanation went on, I saw Ramirez and Ebenezar go from quiet listeners, to quirked curiosity, to shock, and then back again. At least they had the decency to let me finish explaining though.

"And that's all we know," I finished.

Ramirez let out a low whistle, "So she's out of this world huh? I knew it."

I ignored him and looked at my former mentor. Ebenezar was pinching the bridge of his nose and clenching his eyes tight, a standard expression around me. "Hoss, can you go one year without some sort of city or world destroying threat falling into your lap?"

"I've tried sir, but what can I say, I'm a popular guy."

Ebenezar released his nose and sighed, "So I've noticed. What's your plan now?"

"If the Gatekeeper can clear the block on Pyrrha's memories, I'm hoping that what she remembers can shed some light on this whole situation. I'd like to know who sent her here, and why?"

"Could it have been one of the Fae?" Ramirez asked.

I shook my head, "I thought about it, but Fae Queens have more important things to do than send a teenager my way. If I had to guess, it was either someone from her end, or...them."

They knew who I meant. Over the years, a pattern emerged from behind most of my cases. Odd events happening in close proximity to one another, people getting access to things they shouldn't have. Individually, they would just be oddities, but considered together, occurring regularly - that suggested a group of individuals working behind the scenes towards...something. I'd met one of their likely members close to a decade back, a mean son of a bitch who called himself Cowl. He and his other Ringwraith rip-offs were part of what I had dubbed the 'Black Council'. Wizards that were causing chaos and opposing the White Council at every turn. I believed they were responsible for the appearance of several warlocks, and the war between the Council and Red Court of Vampires. Others on the Council agreed with me, but the Merlin was not one of them.

As a result, a few of us talked about it mostly in hush-hush secret, and formed our own little group, the Grey Council, to combat the Black Council. We hadn't seen much action yet, but Ebenezar and Ramirez were both part of it, and knew what I was talking about when I mentioned 'them'.

"So you think the B.C sent a voluptuous redhead your way?" Ramirez asked.

I rolled my eyes, "No, but I think they're involved with the Grimm, and someone knows about it. I don't know who, but they have to have power to spare to open a portal between worlds and pluck out a single individual before doing at least a partial mind wipe on them."

"You're forgetting that Roman fellow," Ebenezar reminded me. "What's his stake in all this, and why did someone bring him here in the first place?"

"Good question," I said, "Best answer I have is those Blackstones I mentioned. But they're pretty much indecipherable, and I didn't think bringing it here would be very smart."

Ebenezar scowled, "Damn it, there are too many unknowns. You sure there's nothing else you can tell us, Hoss?"

"None I can think of," I admitted. "It's only been a day. When Pyrrha is done with her treatment, we'll see if she can add anything to it."

I looked over my shoulder, "Would that be enough to satisfy you, _Merlin_?"

The chair behind his desk shimmered, and a man appeared in it. He was the picture of a stereotypical wizard. Long silver hair and matching beard, tall and broad shouldered physique, and dressed in a long blue robe with a purple stole around his neck. His elegant white wood staff was held lightly in his hand.

Arthur Langtry, The Merlin and leader of the White Council, master of wards had been sitting in on us the entire time. Carlos cursed and stood straight up, while Ebenezar sighed and shook his head at me. "You couldn't leave well enough alone, could you Hoss?"

"Sorry sir, I figured something was up when you didn't sit behind your desk. I felt the veil a moment later." I smirked at the Merlin. "You're getting sloppy in your old age."

The Merlin rose from the chair, smoothing his robes with one hand as he did. Once he stood at his full height, he sent me a level look, "You're not half as clever as you think you are, Warden Dresden."

I shrugged, "Maybe, but I know a veil when I feel it. My apprentice was a master of them, I picked up some tricks."

"Ah yes, your apprentice, the new Winter Lady." The Merlin said. His voice was low and reserved. "How is Miss Carpenter these days?"

"Alive and well, last I talked to her. Any particular reason for the theatrics?"

The Merlin casually waved a hand through the air, "A precaution. Events have been tense these past few months. The Supernatural community has grown unnaturally quiet, even the Fae. Given your… relationship with The Queen of Air and Darkness, we were unsure of how you would interact with us. You coming to the Council for help at all was exceptionally surprising."

"So you decided to personally listen in on us?" I asked, and sent Ebenezar a look.

My mentor shook his head, "I didn't know anything about it Hoss. Last I saw, he was on his way South."

"Ancient Mai and I decided that this would be a better course of action," the Merlin said simply. "And it certainly has been enlightening. A potential invasion from another world is certainly something that would have the eye of the Fae."

"Right, right," I said, "We know that. But now that we _all_ know that, what do you plan on doing with that information?"

The Merlin lifted his nose slightly, "We will prepare, of course. You've shown yourself more than capable of solving situations this… unique, Dresden. And if our enemy, whoever they may be, were made aware of the Council's involvement in this affair, it could accelerate their plans. So, as of the moment, you will be allowed freedom to move and act. Unofficially, of course."

I stared at the Merlin. I don't think my jaw was on the floor, but it wouldn't have surprised me. That was… probably one of the most reasonable statement I had heard from the Merlin in my life.

"That's… maybe the first time I think you've actually been… helpful. Like, at all."

He looked like he had swallowed something bitter, "Yes, I know. Several years ago, I'd never have agreed to such an idea, but you have proven yourself… quite capable, on your own. So the Council shall prepare, Dresden. Another war is the last thing that we want, but if an invasion is forming, even one from a foe we may have no need to fear, than the Council must be prepared this time. I shall not allow a second Archangel."

The first battle during the war with the Red Court, was an assault on a White Council compound called Archangel where the Councils 'Brute Squad' trained and prepared itself. A Senior Council member, Simon Pietrovich, was killed in the assault, and his Death Curse wiped the place off the face of the Earth. It had been a dark day for the Council, and had only been a taste of the war to come.

If the Merlin was willing to prepare and take a hard line to prevent another catastrophe like that, then I wasn't going to question it. "So I'm you're wetworks agent then."

The Merlin nodded, "Essentially, yes. Make no mistake Dresden, this is done out of necessity. The Council is split by the void the Red Court's destruction has caused, and the many supernatural factions attempting to fill it. Your actions have caused quite a large number of headaches around here."

"So in other words," I summed up, "Either I stop a possible invasion and save the world, or I die trying and lift one more long term headache while letting the Council have a threat to rally against, again."

He made no attempt to deny it, I'll give him that. The Merlin said, "You are correct. Though if past experience is anything to learn from, than the former is a far more likely outcome."

I smirked, "Then you're more confident about this than I am."

There was a knock on the door. All four of us turned towards it at once. Ramirez slowly stood up, and looked out the peephole Ebenezar had built in. He looked back at all of us with a surprised look on his face, "It's the Gatekeeper."

I blinked in surprise, "Already? But it's only been…" I quickly glanced at the old grandfather clock in the corner of the room. "Huh, forty-five minutes. We are slow talkers."

Ebenezar shuffled past me and Ramirez and opened the door. The Gatekeeper did not enter. Beneath his hood I could see that his skin was a shade paler than usual, and he was a little lighter on his feet than usual.

"Rashid, how's the patient?" Ebenezar asked.

The Gatekeeper looked past him at the Merlin for a moment, then looked at me and said, his voice low, "Dresden, she is okay. But your presence would be appreciated."

I started moving before he finished talking, "How is she really?"

Rashid and I left the study behind. I wasn't sure if the others followed, but assumed they did. The Gatekeeper looked ahead and spoke, "The enchantments on her mind were very...complex. An attempt to remove them would require a knowledge of Psychomancy impossible for me to achieve without violating one of the Laws."

I frowned, that wasn't good. "So you couldn't undo any of it?"

He looked at me with a tired smile, "I did not say that. I skimmed the surface of the corruption in her mind, returning some of her memories. She did… not appreciate their return."

An involuntary shudder shook my frame. I've been on the receiving end of mind magic before, and it is never fun to recover from. The very idea that another living being has violated you on the most infinite level possible is enough to throw your brain into circles of panic, and that's just from a quick peek. When they actively try to block memories or habits, the mind tries to undo the damage.

Sometimes it succeeds, but other times the mind fractures in the attempt. I knew two kids, good kids that had run into a bad crowd. Their friend, my former apprentice, had decided to use her mind magic to try and steer them back onto a better path. Last I heard, the boy was still locked away in a mental hospital as a paranoid wreck.

I stopped in my tracks, and the Gatekeeper turned with a raised brow. I tapped my staff against the floor, and said, "How bad is it?"

He nodded, understanding, and said, "The touch and process was more damaging than the memories themselves. Their content has disturbed her, but I do not believe it is the root of her… troubles. Simply experiencing Psychomancy again has caused her pain."

"So...magical PTSD?" I asked.

"In a laymans terms, that would be… sufficient."

I nodded, "Alright, I understand. Take me to her, I'll see what I can do."

* * *

It took only a minute or two to reach where they had treated Pyrrha. I had never been to this part of the HQ, but there were so many tunnels under Edinburgh and I spent so little time there that this was hardly a surprise. The room itself was a simple stone structure, with a large stone slab in the center. There were several steel carts arrayed around it, where medical instruments and magical foci alike shared places of equal value. The trays all looked warped and uneven.

Sitting on the slab was Pyrrha, which explained the trays. She was rubbing one of her arms and hanging her head, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. It didn't look like she'd had a panic attack, she just looked… Shocked. That was really the only word to describe her demeanor. Whatever the Gatekeeper had unlocked, she clearly hadn't been expecting it.

Injun Joe was carefully gathering equipment and giving Pyrrha a very wide berth. When he saw us, he just glanced at Pyrrha before returning to his duties.

I walked over to the girl and leaned forward. "Hey kid, how'd it go?"

Pyrrha looked up at the sound of my voice, and looked relieved when she saw me. "Harry… You're here."

"Well yeah. Told you it'd be alright."

She shuddered and hugged herself, "I don't think anything could've prepared me for...that. He tried to be careful, but it… it just felt so wrong."

I sat down on the slab next to her, setting my staff next to me, and sighed, "Yeah, there's a reason we take a harsh stance on it. If you need time to recover-"

She shook her head, "I don't have time to sit down Harry. I remember why Ozpin called me into his office now, what he wanted to tell me about."

That was news. Her mystery headmaster was the last lead we had from her world. If she remembered what he had told her, it might tell us exactly what she'd learned. Pyrrha shuddered again; bringing up the memory, even with the block partially removed, had to be painful. Recovering from stuff like that just wasn't easy.

"He told me about the Maidens. They're real. All of them."

"Oh," I nodded slowly, taking in the grave tone of her voice, the gravity of her words…

Then I said, "So, um, care to explain?"

 **A/N: Apologies for such a late posting and missing several dates. But I have good reasons for it!**

 **Recently, I've begun re-posting Remnant on two forums, Spacebattles and Sufficient Velocity. As a result, I've recieved more constructive criticism from the users there and have begun to edit and rewrite the series. Plot holes, pacing problems and grammar issues are being resolved and fixed to make an ultimately better story. What I post here on FFN will always be new content, but as a result, it will lack the more finished quality that is on the other two sites. If you want to see the changes, contact me via PM and I will send the web address to each.**

 **As a result of this and the upcoming semester of College, my postings will become more infrequent. I can guarantee at least one new chapter a week on any of my scheduled days, but any more is pushing it at best. I apologize for this, but it is the result of trying for better content, instead of quantity of content.**

 **All that said though, lets get some quick questions out of the way.**

 **Kyugan asks:** **Magic potential eh, that a reference to the fact she was almost a Maiden or she actually has her own innate potential?**

 **No, its a reference to how, due to her Aura, wizards are having a hard time telling them apart. There is a difference that Harry will discover eventually, but to the average person with a lick of Talent, they'll just see her Aura as an odd variant of the Gift**

 **Cowslayer asks: Now, I forgot to ask last time but, is Pyrrha or any of the other Huntsmen and Huntresses in Remnant capable of using Soulfire?**

 **Far as I know in the series, any human in the Dresdenverse can use it. I can't see why someone from Remnant would be any different.**

 **Those were the only two questions via the reviews, but don't be afraid to leave more, or head over to Spacebattles/SufficentVelocity (Shameless plugging for the win!) to ask me, as I can give you a personal answer quicker there than whenever I churn one of these bad boys out.**

 **Thats all for tonight though folks. See you next time, Ta-ta for now!**


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Long ago, there was an old hermit who had hidden his home deep within the forest, away from the world he had abandoned. One day, he was visited by four young sisters who were lost in the woods.

The old man reluctantly allowed them a place to stay at his home. The sisters, grateful for his help, provided their own kindness.

The oldest sister, Winter, provided advice and counsel to the old man, suggesting he meditate and reflect on the world around him and the life he had lead.

The second, Spring, brought him fruit and flowers, and tended to his garden until it was fruitful once more.

The third, Summer, with her lust for life, convinced him to step outside once more, and embrace the beauty of the world around him.

And the fourth, Fall, reminded him to be thankful for all that he had.

The old man, touched by their kindness, asked why they would do such a thing for a man as old and bitter as himself. They responded that they merely showed kindness to all.

Moved by this, the hermit revealed his powers to the sisters, and gifted them with great powers of their own, embodiments of the four seasons, so that they may go about Remnant spreading their gift of kindness.

As thanks, the Maidens promised to visit the old man once every year from that day forward…

* * *

"My mother loved that fairytale," Pyrrha sighed, wistfully. "I just never imagined it was real."

She looked out the Beetle's window, watching Chicago pass by. After briefly speaking with Harry in Edinburgh, Pyrrha had shut down. The few memories Rashid had unlocked troubled her greatly. The realization that what she knew of Remnant was false, and had been actively hidden from her was a blow to her world view that she couldn't shake. How much of Remnants history was true, if even their fairy tales were truths hidden behind a curtain of lies?

Pyrrha trusted and respected Ozpin, but what he had revealed, and what he had asked of her…

The oppressive nature of the Edinburgh complex had not been conducive to her mental well-being, and Harry had spirited her away with surprisingly little fuss from the Council. At least, that was what Pyrrha could remember. They had returned to the Beetle and began the drive to the home of William Borden, the person that had called Harry before they left for Edinburgh. There was a potential Grimm problem, which meant they had a new lead.

That was minor to Pyrrha though, as she sorted through her memories, none of them pleasant. Harry had let her be for a time, but they both knew that she had no time to play the role of a traumatized damsel. He had been very gentle in asking her about the Maidens, and the story had spilled out before Pyrrha had a chance to think on it.

Harry kept his eyes on the road when he said, "It gets easier kid, trust me. So that's what your Headmaster brought you in for?"

Pyrrha looked at her hands, "It was more than that. He said the Maidens had existed for thousands of years, their powers passing on when the previous generation passed away to whoever they last thought of. If they were not a young maiden though, the power would go to a random person."

"So not immortal, and power passes on to the last person they saw basically. Sounds ripe for abuse, no wonder they kept it secret." Harry said.

"That's what he told me. Those hungry for power went after the Maidens and if they succeeded, would wreak untold havoc. So their existence was covered up and faded into myth to protect them."

Harry frowned, "I'm sensing a 'but' coming up, and it's going to be a big one, isn't it?"

A pit formed in Pyrrha's stomach, and her hands clenched tight, "Yes. Someone had attacked the Fall Maiden. I saw her with my own eyes. Her attacker left her in a permanent coma. They were keeping her alive, but if she passed away…"

"Then some power-hungry mook would probably get their power," Harry finished, "Lovely. What does this all have to do with you though?"

The pit dropped and tiny tremors wracked her body, "They… wanted me to take on the mantle of Fall Maiden."

There was a screech of tires, and Harry blew out a string of colorful curses at the car next to him, before he managed to calm the Beetle and continue on his way, "I-I'm sorry. What?"

"That was why Ozpin called me up to his office. With my skills and… personality, he figured the power would be in safe hands if I had it."

Harry set his jaw tight, "So he was going to… what, make you murder the Fall Maiden?"

Pyrrha felt sick, "No, one of his associates from Atlas had developed a… device. Something that could possibly transfer the Maidens Aura into me, giving me her powers."

"They were going to rip her soul out and shove it into you, and see what happened." Harry said, the steering wheel creaked in his hands. "Any particular reason they couldn't have, I don't know, found an adult to do it? Or tracked down the monster that attacked her in the first place?"

"Harry, remember? The Maidens power can only be transferred to a young woman. As for tracking down her attacker…" Pyrrha shrugged, "No one knew where they vanished to, and the Fall Maiden didn't, or doesn't, have a lot of life left in her."

Pyrrha could not remember how events ultimately unfolded. Until she had a solid answer, she would assume that the Fall Maiden was still alive. The alternative was far too terrifying to consider.

"That doesn't justify it." Harry growled. "You're not even eighteen, you shouldn't have something like that thrust on you. Hell, you shouldn't be in a combat school in the first place. You should be living a normal life worrying about boys, and grades, and normal stuff. Not this supernatural bullshit."

Bitterness seeped in Harry's words, and Pyrrha felt that she wanted to agree with him. It wasn't fair that Ozpin had asked this of her. Yes, she had a 'choice' on the matter, but he knew she would never say no to something as potentially dangerous as that. He had planned on her saying yes, and she should be furious at him for it, and yet…

"I would love that, more than anything Harry." Pyrrha said. "But as long as the Grimm exist, we don't get the luxury of living 'normal' lives. And if I'm honest, I don't think I'd want to."

The car fell silent, Harry focused on the road, his hands gripping the wheel until his knuckles were chalk-white. Pyrrha returned her gaze to the window, watching the streets pass by. It was several minutes before Harry finally spoke in a much calmer tone.

"I understand all of that Pyrrha… And that's why it makes me angry."

* * *

Harry drove them to an apartment complex located near what he called a 'college'. From his description, it sounded similar to the Academies in Remnant or a Scholarly University. In fact, it was called the University of Chicago, and resembled a massive castle built of old stone and brick with high walls and large expanses of parks. It reminded Pyrrha a lot of home.

The complex where his friends lived was a few blocks away, in a neighborhood that could, at best, be described as 'unfriendly'. It wasn't an ugly neighborhood, but definitely not a place to get caught in after dark.

"Huh, looks like Murphy's awake," Harry noted.

One of those big wheeled motorcycles was parked on the side of the street in front of a shiny new pickup. Pyrrha felt her spirits brighten at that. Murphy had practically forced open Pyrrha's shell and was very open-minded about what Pyrrha shared with her. Given everything she remembered, the shock of the Maiden revelation and the painful aftermath that followed, Pyrrha found herself thankful for Murphy's stubbornness.

Harry parked the Beetle behind the pickup, and they took the stairs up. Several flights up, they reached the right apartment, and Harry rapped on the door with his staff. Footsteps sounded immediately, and the door cracked open to expose a brown eye.

"Harry?" a low baritone rumbled.

"Hey Will," Harry greeted and, for some reason pinched the fleshy underside of his left index finger with his nail until a tiny drop of blood formed. Pyrrha stared at him in bewilderment, but Harry ignored her and held up his finger for the eye to see.

The door shut and several locks could be heard clicking open. Harry glanced at Pyrrha and chuckled at the look on her face, "Some supernatural creatures can shapeshift to look exactly like people you know. The one thing they have trouble with though, is imitating bleeding. So if things are tense and someone shows up at the door, ask them to bleed. It's not foolproof, but it's better than nothing."

Pyrrha frowned, "I see…"

The door swung open to reveal a stocky young man with short brown hair and dressed in loose fitting grey sweats. He grinned at Harry, "And, if that doesn't calm you down, wait for them to exposit about magic."

Harry shrugged, said "It's a gift" and shook the young man's hand.

"Good to see you're alright William. Can we come in?"

The man, William, nodded and stepped aside, "Murphy showed up a few minutes ago, said you had some things to tell us?"

"A lot of things," Harry said while stepping inside. He jerked a thumb at Pyrrha, "And I brought my expert along to fact check me too."

Will blinked, only now noticing Pyrrha for the first time. She took a deep breath and forced a smile on her face, "Hello William, my name is Pyrrha. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The man smiled immediately, "Pleasure is mine Pyrrha. Come on in."

She did, and Will locked the door behind her. The apartment was nowhere near the size and scale of Harry or Thomas's, but it had a cozy lived in feel to it. The door opened into the living room,where mall flat screen hung, decorated with DVD's and a plethora of action kitchen was to their immediate left, plain and functional. Directly across from where Pyrrha stood was a hallway intersection that split to the left and right. Posters of old movies were neatly plastered along the living room wall, and there were two windows open in the kitchen.

Several folding chairs had been opened in the living room, and were occupied by several faces, some familiar and some new. To Pyrrha's surprise, Butters was there, wearing a light brown robe and fussing over a shapely young redhead in a far too short purple dress. She had several long but shallow cuts along her legs, old ones that had obviously been tended to earlier.

Murphy was sitting nearby, talking with a tall blonde woman of a lean build and wearing a light summer dress. In her arms was a tiny toddler, no more than two years old and giggling at Murphy. The short woman was making funny faces at the the little girl, and cooing with an excitement Pyrrha hadn't seen from her.

"Murphy, you're being maternal again," Harry warned.

"Bite me," Murphy said without looking away from the baby.

Harry shook his head, smiling, and tapped his staff on the floor three times, "If we're all here, what exactly do all of you know about the current situation."

Murphy sat up and the lean woman stood with her daughter and left the room. Butters and his female companion turned towards Harry, while William took a seat in the middle of them all.

"I think I know more than the Alphas," Butters said, "But that's not saying much."

"Harry, what is going on?" asked the red-headed woman.

Harry sighed, "Well Andi, you see…"

He explained the situation to Butters and the 'Alphas'. Pyrrha took a seat on the futon while he spoke, explaining her arrival, the differences in their worlds, and the possible invasion of the Grimm. He left out the unimportant stuff, like the tussle Torchwick had forced them into, and finished up with explaining the legend of the Maidens to them and its relation to Pyrrha herself.

When he was finished, everyone looked… well, not quite amazed, but surprised for certain, save for Murphy. William leaned forward and took a deep breath, "So there's an inter-dimensional force of nature barreling down on our city, a super-warrior is now sitting on my couch, and to top it off, there's probably a master manipulator behind it all and after these Maiden powers."

"Pretty much." Harry said.

"Sounds like a typical Wednesday," Butters grumbled.

"How're we playing this one then, Harry?" Will asked, ignoring Butters.

Harry scratched his chin, "That's the thing. I've got a broad strategy, but this is a whole new can of trouble that I'm still figuring out."

He gestured at Pyrrha. She blinked and pointed at herself, "Me?"

"You're the Huntress, you understand what we're dealing with better than anyone." Harry confirmed.

True, and Pyrrha had certainly been busy explaining details to Harry and his allies over these past few days. But there was a difference between parroting facts and suggesting strategies for others to use. Pyrrha could list a half dozen strategies for handling a single Grimm, but they all focused around her skills, her abilities. As she had once told Weiss so long ago, Pyrrha preferred to let the cards fall where they may, and work from there.

Yet here she was, being presented to a group of people she barely knew to provide intel for them before they went off hunting for Grimm. Pyrrha barely had her own thoughts together, her memories were a jumbled mess. She was confused, unsure of herself, and wanted to tell someone, anyone, about it.

But there wasn't time for that. Grimm had been spotted in the area, and if one had been seen, it was guaranteed that others would soon follow. Like it or not, Pyrrha knew that now was not the time for indecisions. She had a duty to do, and her worry's could wait until it over.

Pyrrha took a deep breath and pulled her Scroll from her backpack, "You described the Grimm as a bipedal wolf, correct?"

"Yeah, and a big mask that looked like it was made of bone," William said.

She nodded and flicked on her phone, "All Grimm have something similar, it's their mark. What you're describing though, sounds like a Beowolf."

"What, like the old folktale?" the blonde woman returned, sans the baby, and took a seat next to Will.

Pyrrha raised a brow, "What folktale?"

"Nevermind," the woman said, and added, "My name is Georgia, by the way. Thank you for your help, Pyrrha."

'Right then," Pyrrha returned her attention to her Scroll, "Part of my assignments at Beacon required detailed analysis of the common Grimm. I've held onto the details, and I should…"

She found the file and opened it, then set her Scroll on the floor. There was a flicker of light from its screen, and a Beowolf appeared in the room. Everyone shouted in surprise, before quickly realizing that Pyrrha had projected a hologram. Streams of statistical data appeared a moment later, confirming the fact.

Pyrrha looked at everyone with confusion, "It's just a hologram. You've seen those before, right?"

"In movies, yes," Butters said, "In real life, no, not really."

That made Pyrrha blink, "Really? That's strange."

While it was a relatively new feature to the Scroll, holographic projections were very common in Remnant. Video screens, info-boards, telecommunication, all of it was done via holographic projections. How odd it was to be in a world where they weren't common. It would certainly explain the prevalence of television.

"Just warn us before you do that next time," Will said, leaning away from the hologram.

"Right, I'm sorry," Pyrrha brushed her bangs out of her face and took a deep breath.

"As I said though, this is a Beowolf. They are a common species of Grimm, particularly in the Kingdom of Vale. They are faster and stronger than an unaided human, and their claws have been recorded slicing through steel. They never, ever, travel alone except on the rarest of occasions.

"So you're saying there's probably more of these things?" Andi asked.

Pyrrha nodded, "Most definitely. All Grimm travel in groups, and Beowolves are no exception. If you fought one, then it was likely a scout. There will likely be more nearby. Hopefully, this will just be a pack of Beowolves, and nothing else."

"Question," Murphy interjected, "Those don't like what attacked you and I in the alley. Any chance we might run into those?"

"You mean the Ursa?" Pyrrha asked, and opened a new file. The bearlike monster took the place of the Beowolf, appropriately shrunk for scale.

Murphy nodded, "That's it. Those things work with the wolfs?"

"Occasionally, but only in larger groups. Ursa will normally travel in pairs or alone. On the rare occasion we see them with other Grimm, it's either the Beowolves, or the Creeps."

Harry raised his hand, and everyone rolled their eyes. Pyrrha paid them no mind and looked at Harry, "Yes?"

"Creeps, what are those?"

Once more, Pyrrha opened a new file and the small theropod appeared in place of the Ursa. "Creeps are the lowest possible Grimm. They are weak, dumb, and uncoordinated. Their primary purpose, it seems, is to swarm a Huntsman until larger, more dangerous Grimm arrive. Unless we were facing Ursa, or a Horde though, we likely won't see them."

"Likely?" Every single one of the Alphas asked.

Pyrrha winced, "Well, there's always a chance. Grimm are unpredictable, and since we've no idea who is sending them here, we could be facing all three."

Harry simplified what she said, "So when we go to investigate, expect us to run into all three."

"I didn't say that," Pyrrha said, defensively. She closed her scroll and slipped it into her pocket.

Murphy chuckled, "Pyrrha, we've been at this long enough to know how it works. If you say there's a chance of all three being there, then all three will be there."

Given her luck recently, Pyrrha conceded the point. They had terrible luck when it came to enemy encounters, that was the simple truth of it. Luckily for them, this was Pyrrha's area of expertise.

"If there are more Grimm," she said, "Then I will do my best to keep them contained. I may be alone, but it would take more than Beowolves and Ursas to break past me."

Harry tapped his staff against the wall and looked at his feet, "Um, yeah… about that. I think it would be better for all of us if you sat this one out, Pyrrha."

That caught her off guard, "What? Why?"

He sighed, "Because you're not exactly stable. You just had traumatic memories forced open, and I can tell you're not firing on all cylinders. If we're dealing with a life or death situation, which it always is, then I want the people at my back at 100%. You've had a lot of emotional problems since we found you. It's not that I doubt your abilities…"

"It's that you doubt my reliability," Pyrrha finished.

An awkward silence filled the room. Harry met Pyrrha's eyes, nodded a little, and Pyrrha felt a little hurt. What happened at Edinburgh had definitely put her through the wringer, those memories were painful. But Pyrrha had been as helpful as she could, proven what she could do in combat, and shown how reliable she was. Only because of Torchwick had that been turned on them, and that was something beyond any of their control.

Looking between the two, William quickly stood up and clapped his hands together, "Right then, um, we'll go get the van ready, you guys meet us down there when you're ready. Come on guys."

The Alphas and Butters got out as quick as they could, leaving Harry, Pyrrha, and Murphy in the apartment. Harry sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Look, Pyrrha. It's not that I don't trust you, I do. You're a very dependable young lady. It's the world around you I don't trust. You come from somewhere very different from here, and you've obviously had a lot of trauma on you. If I brought you into combat, someone could get hurt or worse."

"Harry," Murphy said, "I've seen what Pyrrha can do. If the Grimm are in large numbers at the school, she is our best girl for the job. Benching her won't help anyone."

"And if she freezes in a fight, that would put everyone else in danger," Harry snapped back. "I don't want anyone else getting hurt."

Pyrrha stood up, "Then send me in Harry."

A pained expression flickered across his face, "Pyrrha…"

"Don't," she raised a hand, "Your worry is noted and appreciated. However, this is the one thing I know for a fact I can do. It is my duty, as a Huntress, to protect humanity from the darkness, from the Grimm. Regardless of if you tell me to stay here or not, if there are Grimm out there, and I can tip the balance, then I will go."

Murphy snickered, and Harry sent her a glare, "What? You're on her side?"

"Dresden," Murphy smiled, " What she's saying should sound very familiar. She's just like you. No matter what you say or do, you won't keep her from tagging along."

Harry closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, "Hells bells, fine. You'll come too, just… don't do anything stupid, okay?"

Pyrrha smiled and bowed her head, "I won't, and thank you Harry."

"Yeah yeah," he waved a dismissive hand, and turned to the door, "Come on, let's go. We're keeping everyone waiting."

* * *

The drive to the University of Chicago was short and mercifully brief. William and Georgia owned a large van that easily fit their entire motley crew and they made the five minute drive with no more unnecessary drama. Pyrrha spent the time staring at the window, carefully turning over her new memories. Some things simply didn't add up.

Why did Ozpin choose her instead of an older, more experienced Huntress? Why not wait until after the Vytal Festival, or ask her to make the decision then? At least the immediacy would've kept the stress of the decision from eating at her for the rest of that day, until she was at the near breaking point. Pyrrha shuddered every time her memories began to trail off again. The last thing the Gatekeeper had unlocked was a memory she wished she could forget for the rest of her life.

Jaune had seen the stress she was under, and made himself a rock for her to hold onto. But even then, she'd let her emotions run free, let herself lose control and she…

Pyrrha shook her head of the memory. Harry was right, her memories were distracting her from the task at hand. She shoved them aside and focused on the battle to come. If they were lucky, it would go off without a hitch.

She felt a hand on her arm and Pyrrha looked over at Murphy sitting next to her. The woman looked concerned. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"Not now," Pyrrha sighed, but smiled, "When this is over, maybe."

Murphy nodded, "Okay. Don't hold it in though, Pyrrha. Trust me, it always-"

Will cursed from the driver's seat and the car jerked to a squealing halt. Pyrrha slammed against the seat in front of her and saw stars. The van exploded into a sea of confused murmurs, until Harry forced himself up front between William and Georgia.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Pyrrha and Murphy peaked out past the driver's seat and saw exactly what was going on. They had stopped at a roundabout, and while the school was mostly empty on account of the semester having not yet started, a few cars had been passing through. Emphasis on had.

A car had been tossed into the nearest tree, its cabin mercifully empty. In the center of the roundabout, a truck had been caved in on one side and slammed into another car. The street was a mess of torn asphalt, grass, and ruined trees. A small three wheeled electric police car was a ruined wreck of steel and rubber, the officer taking cover behind the wreckage, with a cluster of civilians injured or otherwise, cowering behind him..

Grimm prowled the field, at least two dozen of them. Most Beowolves, but the hulking form of an Ursa or two could be seen amongst the crowd, and Creeps skittered between their larger brethren.

Pyrrha didn't say anything, there was no time for words. She flung open the van door and ripped open her backpack, relieving Miló and Akoúo̱ of their makeshift sheathes. The blade eagerly sprung into spear mode, and with Akoúo̱ secured to her arm, Pyrrha took off at a dead sprint down the street.

"Pyrrha, wait!" Harry called, and cursed when she didn't.

Murphy hopped out of the car and sighed, "See? Like I told you, Harry. She acts exactly like you."

 **A/N: Holy crap I hate this chapter. I hate hate hate this chapter. Maybe it was because we covered old ground a _lot_ during this chapter, or just because I struggle with dialogue heavy chapters, but I hated this chapter with a fiery passion. Now for those wondering where I've been and don't pay attention to the forums, I've mostly either been A) At Monterey for a week, or B) adjusting to the stress that is college life again. Now that I'm getting a handle on it, I hope to return to my old schedule again. I won't be able to update thursday, as I have the first test of the semester that day, but Saturday should be fair game. We'll finally get some good old fashioned RWBY style action, along with some Dresdenverse pyrotechnics.  
**

 **I'll also add that I ultimately couldn't add in the Councils reaction to the Maidens because no matter how I tried to write it, the result turned into a slogging mess, and as we saw, this chapter is already one. In the future, with help from my editor, I might change that. But as is, the Council had to be skipped over. Sorry, but for the sake of flow and decent writing, it had to be done.**

 **I hope the rest wasn't too much of an absolute disaster, but please, let me know in the reviews what you thought, so I can fix the issues.**

 **Until next time guys!**


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

The first Beowolf never saw Pyrrha coming. It had its scarlet eyes set on the officer and civilians hiding that were cornered behind the ruined three-wheeled cruiser, and had its back turned to her

Pyrrha jumped through the air with Miló and Akoúo̱ in hand, and hit the Grimm like a springboard. She thrust her spear forward into the base of its skull, and sprung forward as it went limp. The beasts body hit the ground with a meaty smack and immediately began to evaporate into a black mist. Pyrrha rolled forward as she hit the ground and quickly took stock of the situation.

Three Grimm remained near her, all Beowolves. Two were slowly prowling towards the stranded civilians, while the third had begun to turn around at the sound of its comrade hitting the floor. Years of training had given Pyrrha a whip-sharp mind, quickly able to analyze and deduce the best plan of attack she could take in battle. One look at the Grimm before her was enough time to establish a plan of attack.

Pyrrha charged, a blur across the ground while her spear collapsed into a shortsword. She spun once as she ran, sending Akoúo̱ spinning past the closest Beowolf. Its head whipped to the side to track the flying object as it spun by, and rose on its hind legs. Pyrrha slid under the gap it had created, lashing out with Miló across its right leg. As it fell, Pyrrha popped back to her feet, shifting Miló into spear form once more right as Akoúo̱ hit the next Grimm across the head, and ricocheted into its partner, stunning them both.

Legs like springs, Pyrrha flipped between them both, snatching Akoúo̱ from the air as she did. Once her feet hit the ground, Pyrrha whirled, decapitating the Grimm to her left, followed by a swift stab to the right through the Beowolf's chest. It tried slashing at Pyrrha with its claws, but she used Akoúo̱ to block the blow, then ripped Miló free. The Grimm fell on its back and started thrashing as it died.

Pyrrha looked past it at the Grimm she'd dismembered. It was still struggling to stand, despite the missing leg, and was crawling towards her. A flick of her wrist brought Miló to eye level, expanded into a spear once more, and she flung it through the air. The grimm shrieked and found itself impaled on the ground, where it began to evaporate a moment later.

She recalled the spear to her hand with a thought, and rushed to the ruined cruiser. The civilians were looking at her in awe, and the officer looked dumbfounded. "Everyone alright?" Pyrrha asked as she came to a stop and crouched in front of the officer.

The woman was middle aged, average shape, with dark brown hair and very scared eyes. Just an average person making their rounds through the day, until the Grimm had likely poured in and ruined it. It was a miracle she was in one piece, let alone coherent enough to respond to Pyrrha's question.

"W-we've got injured," the woman reported, "I don't t-think it's too bad, b-but we can't help them with these...these… h-how did you do that?"

Pyrrha looked past the officer at the civilians. There were four of them, two elderly and the others adults. One of them, an elderly gentleman with a thick white goatee, was laying against the wreck with his arm held close to his chest and his left leg twisted at an unnatural angle. The middle of his forearm was swollen to three times its original size. The others were less injured, but covered in cuts and bruises. Pyrrha was relieved that a broken arm was the worst of their injuries.

She turned to the officer and said, "No time to explain, just stay behind me, I'll protect you from-"

The ground began to tremble beneath their feet, and there was a sharp crack of stone. Pyrrha turned back to the street, right as it fractured in two. It bucked and twisted, slowly spreading farther and farther apart, until it was at least six feet across. Thick black bodies shot out from the newly formed ravine, their tops covered in bony white armor, and their oversized jaw eagerly snapping at the air.

There had to be a dozen creeps, and more were pulling themselves free of the new hole. Pyrrha cursed her luck, Creeps couldn't normally burrow through solid concrete like that, too solid, even for them. But if a Creep was large enough or there were enough numbers, nothing could slow them down.

Two dozen of the creatures had begun to surround them by that point, and Pyrrha made a show of spinning Miló in her hand until it had expanded back into a full spear. Twenty four Creeps against her was hardly a challenge, it was the Grimm behind the ravine that worried her. The Beowolves and Ursa's hung back, watching but making no move to attack. It was a disturbingly intelligent tactic, which meant there was an Alpha Grimm somewhere, keeping them organized.

That was a problem to deal with later, the immediate problem were the Creeps. Or rather, they would be, until a wall of jagged ice rolled across the monsters from right to left, freezing them in place. Only the last of the Creeps reacted to the sudden element, but even they were caught in the icy glacier, and became part of its edifice. The remaining Grimm howled in surprise, and the ground began to shake again.

Pyrrha lowered Miló in surprise, and turned to her right.

Harry and the others had finally caught up to her, the wizard leading the pack, while Murphy took up the rear, limping on her bad leg. The runes on Harry's staff were blazing green, and his every breath came out as an icy mist. He looked very, very angry with Pyrrha as he approached her.

"The Grimm weren't going to wait for us" Pyrrha said, right as he opened his mouth to chastise her. He paused and Pyrrha gestured behind her, "And there are injured civilians. One of them has a broken leg."

Harry closed his eyes and yelled, "Butters! We've got injured!"

"On it!" the short man, in his brown robe, scurried to the injured while carrying a large medical bag, and immediately got to work. Murphy and the Alphas took cover by the cruiser, which was when more strangeness occurred.

Georgia, William, and Andi stripped out of their clothes and fell to all fours. The moment their hands touched the ground though, they were no longer paws, but huge paws covered in fur. The three humans were replaced with gigantic wolves, each as large as a small horse. Their lips pulled back in a snarl at the ice wall, revealing shiny white fangs that gleamed under the pale sunlight.

Pyrrha blinked, "Um...what?"

"Werewolves," Murphy explained from her cover, shouldering a small boxy submachine gun, "The Alpha's are werewolves."

Pyrrha stared at the massive wolves, processing what Murphy said. "You… live in a very weird world, Harry."

The wizard didn't look from the wall of ice, "Stones and glass houses Pyrrha. What're we dealing with here?"

She looked away from the Alphas and back at the wall of ice. The cloud cover and cool weather kept it from melting, but she could see black shapes moving behind it. The Grimm were on the move again, and Pyrrha doubted another wall of ice would stop them.

"Big pack," she said aloud, "Odds are, there's an Alpha around here somewhere, the rest seem to be young, relatively speaking. If we find the Alpha and kill it though, they'll either retreat or become disorganized."

"They can think?" Murphy asked incredulously.

Pyrrha narrowed her eyes at the wall, "The older ones, to a degree. Now get ready, here they come."

The first wave of Grimm came leaping over the wall a moment later, all of them Beowolves. Harry thrust his staff forward and snarled, ' _Fozare!'_

An invisible wall of force crashed into several of the Grimm, flattening them against the glacial wall before they landed. The few that hit the ground didn't get much farther.

Murphy fired off several short controlled bursts from her submachine gun, taking the first Grimm in the chest and skull. Bits of bone shattered from its face and it went down a moment later.

The Alphas surged forward the moment she let up on the trigger. The massive werewolves had more than enough muscle and strength to go toe to toe with these Beowolves. They split in three directions, cutting off two of the Grimm from the rest of the group. Will acted charged them both, while Georgia and Andi flanked left and right. When the Beowolves turned towards Will, the girls lunged forward, tearing at the exposed hindquarters. When the Grimm snarled and whirled to attack them, Will tackled one from behind and started tearing at its back with his fangs, while Andi and Georgia quickly overpowered the remaining one.

The remaining Grimm, another three, abandoned their comrades to their fate, and charged at the line Pyrrha and Harry had formed. They didn't last long.

Pyrrha was already moving when Harry had flung his spell, and met the first Grimm as its paws had touched down. She slid around its side, slashing Miló across its ribs, reversed her grip on the hilt, and thrust the blade into its spine. The Grimm fell, and she quickly lunged at the next one.

It had time to at least react, and raised its clawed hands to attack. Pyrrha dodged under the first swipe, deflected the second with her shield, and spun with the blow. Miló sprung into its spear form once more, and she swung it underhanded by the end of its haft. The Grimms head went soaring through the air.

Following her swing in an arc, Pyrrha spun and released the spear, letting it fly and impale itself on the final Grimm, knocking the beast to the ground. Miló flew back to her hand a moment later, and Pyrrha looked around the battlefield.

The Alphas had finished mauling the last of the Grimm, and the ones Harry had sent flying now lay on the ground as smoldering corpses. In the chaos, several Creeps had tried sneaking past them, but Murphy had taken them out with short controlled bursts. The civilians and Butters were unharmed. The little man was helping the injured as fast as he could and barely looked phased by the conflict going on around him.

"How many more?!" Murphy called from her spot.

The ground shuddered in response to her question, one long rolling movement that made everyone stop. Pyrrha whirled to the wall and felt her heart hammer in her chest. There was no way there were that many. If this were a full blown horde, they'd have been overrun already. Which meant that either the Ursa were all charging at once, or the Alpha Grimm had decided to reveal itself.

The wall of ice promptly exploded into a crystalline shrapnel. Pyrrha raised her shield instinctively, but did not hear the telltale rattle off its steel surface. She lowered it and saw that Harry had projected a blazing magical shield protecting them both, and extending to the cruiser to shield Murphy. Through the cloud of icy mist and raining ice, Pyrrha saw that she had been right, the Alpha had arrived.

It was huge, larger than any of its kind she had yet seen, a living, writhing freight train, covered in scales like platemail. Its oversized head was armored in bony plates and unblinking red eyes glared at her. The Grimm was limbless, a colossal snake that slowly raised its head from the floor, ten, fifteen, twenty feet into the air. A near identical, snow white head swung around on its right, the two serpents connected on one body. They bared their fangs and roared loud enough that any glass nearby promptly shattered.

"What the hell is that!?" Harry screamed, throwing up his shield again.

Pyrrha scowled at the beast, and could see that behind it, the remaining Grimm were prowling forward, Ursa, Beowolf, and Creep alike. She twirled Miló in her hand as it collapsed into a short sword once again, and said, "It's called the King Taijitu, and I'll handle it. Keep the civilians safe."

She took off before Harry could shoot that idea down, and charged the colossal serpent.

It hissed again and the black head struck at her. Pyrrha raised Akoúo̱ and slid across the ground. The serpent's scales scraped against the steel and it hit the ground, quickly twisting itself back around and snapping at her with its gigantic mouth. The other, white head, came hissing down at her. Pyrrha sprang into the air, and used the snake's head as a springboard. Her feet landed on its head, and it bucked up to knock her free, exactly as planned.

She went flying through the air, flipping forward and landing across the street in a controlled roll. When she was back on her feet, she turned back to the Grimm. The snake quickly turned itself around and raced between its lesser counterparts, despite its size. Gunshots and fire erupted behind it as the Grimm and Harry's friends came to blows once more.

The King Taijitu weaved across the ground with its black head taking the lead while the white was dragged behind it. That seemed to mean it was the dominant half of the two. Taking it out would obviously weaken the Grimm, and give Pyrrha another advantage.

When it drew near, it swung both heads around to face her again, and bared its fangs, each long as a broadsword. Pyrrha crouched behind her shield, and smiled to herself.

The black head struck first, as she expected. Pyrrha jumped to the side, dodging the strike by mere feet. It shattered concrete where it hit, and was buried up to the nose in the stuff. The white head did not wait for its dark twin to free itself, looping over it and trying to scoop Pyrrha into its mouth.

Pyrrha jumped over the gaping maw, only to be surprised when the blackhead came out of nowhere and hit her with the side of its skull. Her aura protected her from the physical damage, but did nothing to keep her from flipping end over end through the air until she hit something hard. One of the buildings on the campus, to be specific, which now had a neat Pyrrha shaped crater in its edifice.

A pebble bounced off her nose, and Pyrrha slowly opened her eyes. The shot open and she quickly pulled herself free. The King Taijitu missed her, burying its black head straight through the building, while Pyrrha held onto a window ledge next to it. Drywall and brick shattered and snapped under the weight, and despite missing her, it continued to slither into the building.

"Oh no," Pyrrha took off along the buildings edge, right as the snake broke through the wall again, sending debris spilling everywhere. It raced along behind her, both Huntress and Grimm speeding across the side of the building. Pyrrha readied her sword, and loosened her shields grip, the buildings edge was quickly approaching.

With a quick flick of her wrist, she sent the shield spinning through the air and grabbed it with her Semblance, flipping it to face her, six feet from the building edge. Pyrrha flipped off the building, and landed solidly on her shield, legs tensed. She looked back up at the rapidly approaching Grimm, which had opened its mouth in a vain attempt to swallow.

Pyrrha smirked, and launched off her shield with a soft explosion of air. She skimmed along the edge of the black heads scaly head, and quickly found her footing, sprinting along its oversized scales.

Miló in hand, Pyrrha began rapidly slashing across the snakes scaly hide as she ran, parting its scales with each slash. Her weapon expanded into a spear again and she dragged it along the edge of the snakes belly, trailing sparks behind her.

The whitehead reared up ahead of her, mouth wide. Pyrrha shot forward in a moment of Aura propelled speed, a blur of fiery red. Miló found its target in its oversized red eye, sinking to the shaft. Pyrrha swung up around onto its head, and ripped her spear free. It condensed to sword form once more, and she brought it overhead, before stabbing down with both hands as hard as she could.

Bone split, and both of the King Taijitu's heads screeched in shared agony, and began pitching wildly side to side in a desperate attempt to throw her free. Pyrrha tightened her grip on the handle, waiting for her moment. The Grimm swung left, it swung right, it swung its head down, and then up.

On the upward swing, Pyrrha wrenched Miló free and let herself soar into the air. With her Semblance, she called her shield back to her, and turned mid air to face the ground. She felt herself grow weightless as she reached the peak of her arc. The Grimm below slithered and writhed, watching her with eager anticipation in their eyes.

Miló once more transformed into a spear, and Pyrrha began to fall. The black head of the snake lashed towards her, clipping her left side. Akoúo̱ made a hollow gong, and Pyrrha spun from the impact, but she had been prepared for that, and began to reorient herself.

The white head hit her from behind with its snout. She had not been expecting that, and let out a surprised yell. The world spun before she hit the ground hard, leaving a small crater in the asphalt. She had tumbled before though, and managed to get her legs under her. Her sneakers dug into the asphalt, and she thought she heard them tear from the friction. No time to focus on that though, the Grimm was coming around for another pass at her.

' _Infriga!'_ Harry's voice rang, and a column of ice grabbed the King Taijitu in the middle. The snake jerked to a halt and hissed in surprise.

Pyrrha was equally surprised, and looked behind her to see Harry leading a charge towards her. The rest of the Grimm were dead or dying, some of them sizzling. Besides Harry, ran _Butters_ of all people, wielding a sword of brilliant white light. Pyrrha had never seen anything like it in her life. The light of his sword was not that of a hardlight structure, or a flaming blade. It was a soft, comforting light that filled Pyrrha with a sense of calm and serenity.

She realized, with a start, that she had underestimated Harry and his allies, that she hadn't had faith in their abilities. They could protect themselves, and she should've been helping them, not leaving them to fend for themselves. Pyrrha made a mental note to apologize for what she'd done later. For now…

Everyone charged, right as the King Taijitu broke its icy prison and hissed at them. Its two heads weaved around one another, as the final Grimm charged them. Pyrrha slid forward on one knee, shield raised to deflect the black head. The Alphas flowed around her and leaped onto it, digging their fangs into its scales.

Harry shouted and the other head was engulfed in fire. It shrieked and slammed against the ground in an attempt to put out the flames. Pyrrha never gave it the chance, sprinting forward and cutting the beast across the neck. It tried to crush her with its body, but Pyrrha rolled away from the blow. Its mass sent tremors through the earth, and the street began to give way.

Pyrrha spun Miló in one hand and buried it up to the hilt into the creature's neck. It thrashed and sent her flying again, but she caught herself and watched as Harry and Butters took up the slack. Harry threw up a geyser of ice that grabbed the King Taijitu by the neck, holding it in place, letting Butter close in for the kill.

The swords light was enough to send burns dancing across the Grimms scales. It desperately tried to free itself, but the other head was preoccupied with the Alphas, and now Murphy. The woman was keeping calm, firing off short controlled bursts while the Alphas tore at the Taijitu's scales.

When Butters finally managed to stab the King Taijitu though, the Grimm lost it. Both heads promptly broke free of their attackers. The Alphas went flying, and Butters almost went splat against the ground, had Pyrrha not intercepted his fall and caught him.

The little man blinked at her, "Huh, I guess your leg is doing fine."

She smiled and set him down, "Never better doctor. Now, where's your sword?"

Butters pointed past her and she looked.

The King Taijitu wrapped itself into a writhing ball of scales and fangs, hissing and roaring at them. Buried to the hilt in the white heads side, was Butters sword. The wound was beginning to fester and burn, but the snake was big as a subway, it could afford the injuries.

"So…" Harry walked up next to her, "How do we kill it?"

Pyrrha blinked when she realized the question was directed at her. She looked around and saw the Alphas and Murphy lineup next to her. The werewolves snarled at the snake, and Murphy calmly replaced the clip on her rifle.

A fierce smile spread across her lips, and Pyrrha asked, "Will Butters sword still work if I can grab it?"

Butters shrugged, "I dunno. You'd need to have a lot of Faith to keep it going. Literal Faith."

"In that case, Harry, can you use your ice to hold the Grimm in place?"

Mist flowed off the wizards staff, and he smirked, "Oh yeah, I can do ice."

Pyrrha nodded, "Murphy, stay back with Butters. If the sword won't work for me, then I'll have to throw it back to you. As for the Alphas…"

The werewolves looked at her. Despite their animalistic appearance, Pyrrha could see the human intelligence in their eyes. "Keep both heads distracted. I'll only need a minute. Everyone got it?"

It was a weird feeling, giving orders, and it was odd everyone had deferred to her over this. But, this was a problem she had been trained to deal with. No one else knew how to deal with the Grimm, which left her in charge. Everyone looked at her and nodded their confirmation. Pyrrha took a deep breath, and turned to face the King Taijitu, one more time.

"Then let's go!"

They broke, and took off in several directions. The Alphas split up, rapidly circling the Grimm. The giant snake whirled around, trying to keep up with them, hissing and snarling. Pyrrha waited for her moment, while Harry raised his staff and focused his will for a single moment. The runes on his staff began to glow with a fierce blue energy, mist streaming off his staff.

" _Arctis!"_ he thrust his staff forward and released his will right as the black head of the King Taijitu struck at William. Ice jumped out to grab it and pin it in place.

"Go go go!" Harry yelled.

Pyrrha was off like a shot, sprinting up the pinned snake, slashing Miló as she ran. The remaining head was distracted by the Alphas and never noticed Pyrrha until she reached Butters sword. She used her Semblance to hold Miló to her shield, and reached for the hilt.

Something stopped her, an innate terror that grabbed at her heart. The sight of the fire, the flames that licked at the wound, sent a coursing terror through Pyrrha's being. A sea of memories crashed into her, threatening to drown her in a sea of images she saw and forgot in an instant. Pyrrha recoiled from the sword, and looked away from the brilliant fire. The memories receded.

Something about the sword, the fire or the light itself, stirred Pyrrha's memories, paralyzing her. She couldn't get near it without freezing up. Around her, the King Taijitu roared in defiance, and whipped about in an attempt to shake her free. Pyrrha steadied herself on its scaly side, and glanced at the sword.

Another flash of memories, and she winced. It would be easier to jump off and leave the sword. There were other ways to kill the Grimm after all, no need to force herself. Pyrrha looked around at the carnage around her. The ice pinning it was beginning to crack from its repeated efforts. The Alphas had been thrown aside from its thrashing, and Harry had raised a shield around himself, Murphy, and Butters in an attempt to protect them from its wrath.

There would be an easier way for sure.

But it wouldn't be the right way.

A fire ignited within her, and Pyrrha grabbed was a Huntress, and no matter the pain, no matter the fear or the adversary, she would never back down when lives were on the line. The power to slay Grimm was part of her very being, and she would not falter now!

The fire erupted into blazing light that seeped from every crevice in the Grimms body Pyrrha's smile returned, and she took off at a dead sprint. The King Taijitu let out an agonized howl. Its remaining head turned from Harry to her, and began to raise itself as high as it could, stretching its mouth unnaturally wide, fangs gleaming in the light.

Pyrrha bared her teeth, and ran faster, daring the Grimm to make a move. Behind her she left a streams of corrupted flesh, splitting the snake in two, lengthwise. Something broke in the Alpha Grimm, and its head snapped back, as if struck. Pyrrha, a blur of red and white light, split the Grimm in two, and went flying off its body.

She flipped through the air and and made a perfect three point landing. The swords light vanished the moment her feet touched the ground. Silence fell over the roundabout, interrupted only by the sound of the King Taijitu's body slowly falling to the ground.

Pyrrha stood and looked at the hilt in her hand. No smoke, no ashes, it was just a normal bamboo hilt. Only a piece of broken metal remained in the hilt, and it gleamed in the clouded sunlight. There were many questions to ask, and she knew the answers would be very confusing, but-

The Grimm's body collapsed against the street, sending a rolling tremor beneath her feet. The ground cracked as Pyrrha stumbled, and she looked down at her feet in horror. A spiderweb of cracks spread out from under her feet, and the street groaned ominously.

She looked up from where she stood, at Harry and her friends.

And then, the ground gave way, and she was gone.

* * *

 **A/n: I spent a lot of time going over this chapter, fixing details, trying to figure out how best to write it out. Several scenes were either cut, rewritten, or both. I am overall happy with how it came out, but I'll be running it by my editor when he gets back from vacation.**

 **Next chapter'll be interesting, we've got some more plot stuff, Pyrrha gets dragged onto a shopping trip, and then things'll get real freudian. Not exactly in that order though.**

 **As a quick aside, I'd figure I'd let you guys know that I'm working on a second story that I won't be posting until about the halfway point on Remnant. Its another RWBY story, but no Dresden Files this time. Instead, in a bit of an homage to Monty himself, its one of the franchises that put him on the path to creating RWBY in the first place.**

 **Yep, keep an eye out, because Metroid: Remnant, is on its way.  
**


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Pyrrha fell a good ten feet before she hit the floor. She made the mistake of rolling with the landing, as the entire area was soaked in muddy water. When she came to a stop, her ponytail arched over her head and plopped in the center of her forehead, spraying mud all over her face.

"...Ew…"

Slowly she stood with her arms out stretched, and wrinkled her nose in disgust. Her clothes were covered in mud and pressed tightly against her body. There was a nasty odor emanating from it too. Pyrrha brushed her ponytail out of her face and wiped the mud out of her eyes.

After blinking her eyes a few times, Pyrrha looked around at where she had landed. It wasn't a sewer, thankfully, but a large cylindrical tunnel, maybe about seven or eight feet in diameter. The walls were rough and uneven, hastily carved through pipes and maintenance ways underneath the roundabout, which explained where the water had come from. The soft gurgling of water echoed from all sides of the tunnel, and save for the light from the hole she'd fallen through, it was swallowed in darkness.

Pyrrha recognized the signs and felt her blood run cold. The Creeps were capable of rapid tunneling, that was a fact, but their tunnels often either collapsed behind them or weren't large enough for a human to follow. A Grimm Tunnel of this size and magnitude suggested that they hadn't simply come across a simple pack, but a nest of Grimm.

It was hard to decide what was more disturbing. The fact that a nest was located right under a very large public school, or that the Grimm had only just now decided to attack. Grimm could use strategy, if they were old enough. But this was an entirely different level, and it had been devastating. If the Alphas hadn't caught that Beowolf, which Pyrrha now knew had to be some sort of scout, the campus would've been overrun within hours before the Grimm were pushed back.

That, was a sobering thought. They would have to count their blessings that they'd caught the initial breakout, and had such an effective weapon to use against them. Pyrrha would definitely have to ask Butters where he had gotten his sword from.

Pyrrha blinked and looked at her hands. Her blood froze in horror as she realized that, in her fall, she had dropped the hilt. A quick reach with her Semblance showed her that her sword and shield had fallen into the water, but she couldn't sense Butters' sword. Of course, that was because it was made of wood not, steel, she couldn't sense it no matter how much she wanted to!

Pyrrha fell to her knees with a splash and started swiping her hands through the water, in a frantic attempt to find what she had lost. Despite her efforts, all Pyrrha managed to find was more mud, and cover herself in more of the murky water. The hilt was nowhere to be found.

"No, no no no," she cursed under her breath. Slowly she fell back until she was sitting in the water, and covered her face, "No! How could I have lost it!?"

The fall had caught her off guard yes, but Pyrrha wouldn't lose her weapons so easily. Obviously that wasn't the case, she'd dropped every weapon on her in the fall, and now the most powerful weapon against Grimm she had seen was lost. Pyrrha let her hands drop to her side and ball into fists. She wanted to shout, to scream in frustration at how such a stupid accident could happen to her, but no anger came, only bitterness. Maybe she was a Huntress, but no one was perfect.

Pyrrha took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. Just because she couldn't immediately find the hilt didn't mean it was lost forever. It would just take more effort than frantically splashing in possible sewer water. In fact, Harry could probably whip up a spell to find it if need be. The sword wasn't lost, just misplaced, and they would find it.

The knot of bitter anger slowly uncoiled, and Pyrrha released her pent up breath and opened her eyes. Something flashed in the corner of her vision. She looked at it and her eyes widened.

Lying just a few feet away, resting on a piece of broken rubble and untouched by the water, was the wooden bamboo hilt. The tiny fragment of steel left in the base had evaded her notice in her first wide sweep, but it shone like a beacon to her Semblance now. Pyrrha scrambled over to it and carefully picked up the hilt in her hands, and sighed in relief.

"Oh thank goodness. I don't think I could ever live that down.

"Which part, the falling in the hole bit, or the being covered in sewer water bit?" Harry called from above.

Pyrrha's eyes shot up to the shattered ceiling, where Harry and Butters had gathered around the edge, the big wizard grinning like a doofus. "You're going to need a long shower when we get back to the Alphas apartment, we can smell you from up here."

Ignoring the comment, Pyrrha stood up and smiled, "Well, I never said what I did couldn't get dirty, did I?"

"If that's the closest you can get to making a joke, then we need to work on your material," Harry replied. He dropped his staff until he was holding it by the top, and swung it down. "Now grab on, we need to split before the local po-po shows up."

Pyrrha frowned at the staff and looked down the tunnel, "Not yet Harry. This tunnel is too big for a few Creeps to have dug in the past few hours. We need to investigate this, there could be more Grimm."

Harry sighed and retracted his staff, "Of course there are."

He nodded to Butters and vanished. Pyrrha heard him yelling to someone, probably Murphy, while Butters approached the edge, and slowly eased his way down until he was sitting on the ledge. With one hand still on the ground, Butters heaved himself forward and started to fall toward the ground.

Pyrrha was already moving to catch him, but stopped in her tracks when she saw that Butters wasn't falling at all. A hook attached to a nylon rope had been hidden inside his oversized robe, and an orange cloud hung over it. Butters gently descended to the ground until his boots touched the water. The hook popped off with an audible ' _click!'_ and he splashed into the water while it slithered back into his robe.

"H-how… how did you do that?"

Butters smoothed out his robe and grinned, "Magic."

"Of course," Pyrrha shook her head, but smiled and offered his sword to him. "Here you go, I almost lost it in the fall."

Butters smiled and took the hilt from Pyrrha, wiping it off with the end of his sleeve before slipping it into the robe. "Thanks Pyrrha. Glad to see you're okay."

"Well of course, I can handle a little drop."

The short man shook his head, "Not the fall, you. You're doing much better than the last time I saw you, and when Harry brought you with him, you were wearing the thousand yard stare."

He wasn't wrong, Pyrrha had let her recently revealed memories get to her, and they were still pestering her. But she had set aside her feelings for the greater good before, and she could do it again, no matter how painful they might be.

"There are bigger things at stake here than my personal feelings, Doctor," Pyrrha said, then gestured at the tunnel, "This is a sign of very terrible things, but it is also my element, the path I've chosen to walk. When this is over… I'll do something about those other problems."

Butters frowned and opened his mouth to say something, when something splashed in the water next to them. Pyrrha's weapons flew to her hands in an instant, and Butters had unsheathed his sword and pointed it at the intruder. Harry slowly stood up with his arms raised in surrender and grinning.

"Boo."

Pyrrha lowered Miló and scowled, "Harry, that wasn't very smart."

"It was funny though," Harry chuckled, and lowered his arms.

Butters sighed and put his sword away, "I'm sure Murphy would think the same thing if we'd lopped your head off on accident."

"I made sure to keep my distance," Harry said, then grew more serious. "Murphy and the Alphas are evacuating with the civilians. We've got five, ten, fifteen minutes tops before the cops show up, so let's make this quick."

Pyrrha shook water off her weapons and jerked her head toward the tunnel, "If anyone has a flashlight, we could use it now. Fighting Grimm in the dark is a suicide."

Harry pulled a necklace from around his neck and held it out in front of him. A five star pentacle hung from it, and with a whisper of words, a circle of soft white light stretched out ten feet around them.

"Stay behind me," Harry ordered, and strode forward with the pentacle held at arm's length in front of him.

They marched single file through the damp corridor, Harry at the front, Pyrrha in the middle, and Butters covering the rear. It didn't take long for the light of the sun to fade, leaving Harry's pentacle as the only form of light in the tunnel. Long shadows stretched across the ceilings and walls like clawed hands, grasping and reaching for the uneven edges the Creeps had left in their wake. The muddy water sloshed against their ankles with each step, and was the only other sound, save for the constant dripping that seemed to come from all sides.

Pyrrha suddenly felt a very distinct case of deja vu, down there in the caves. She cleared her throat, and Harry stopped. "What is it?"

"If you see an orange light, do not go towards it," Pyrrha said. "If we're in a Grimm Nest, then it likely belongs to a Deathstalker."  
"A what?" Butters asked.

"Giant scorpion, big as the King Taijitu we killed." Pyrrha explained.

Butters went a little pale, "Oh. You could handle it if we came across one though, right?"

She shrugged, "Maybe. But I doubt there is one. I just wanted to warn you so… nevermind."

There were a lot of things Pyrrha was willing to share with Harry and his friends, but the tale of the Deathstalker was one she would take to her grave. She had to preserve some measure of dignity, after all.

Harry and Butters exchanged a look, but they continued on. Shortly after, the tunnel began to angle down. It was a small slope, but Pyrrha knew that the farther down they went, the less room to maneuver they would have. If they ran across even larger number of Grimm, it would be difficult for all three of them to escape. Pyrrha could, but Butters and Harry couldn't match her speed and stamina, and had no aura to protect them. She hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Harry stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Pyrrha asked.

The wizard frowned and looked around, "I thought I heard something, like…"

The sound of steel grinding against stone rolled up the tunnel in a hair raising hiss. Pyrrha's grip on Miló tightened, and Butters drew his sword and held it up. The difference was night and day, almost literally. The light of Butters' blade was warm and comforting, and filled every nook and cranny with its soothing glow. The grinding stopped, and the dripping took over once more.

"Right… Butters, take point," Harry said.

"On it," the little man said. Pyrrha fell back to cover their backs, and the trio continued moving.

Not wanting to be joined by silence alone, again, Pyrrha said, her voice low, "How does his sword do that?"

"Hmm? You mean _Fidelacchius_?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I've never seen a weapon so effective against the Grimm before. What is it?"

He scratched at his head and sighed, "That's… complicated, since you didn't grow up here."

"Why?"

"There's a lot of theology behind that sword. Do you guys even have that where you're from?"

Pyrrha raised a brow, "Of course. There are several religions in Remnant. I'm a Spiritualist myself, we worship and remember the souls of our Ancestors. They watch over us and guide us. Are you saying that sword works on a similar process?"

Harry raised a hand and wobbled it side to side, "Sort of. I'll give you a full run down later, but what Butters has is called a 'Sword of the Cross'. Its one of three forged from ancient religious artifacts to combat evil across the world. Butters is a Knight of the Cross, chosen to wield the sword into battle. Butters is basically the closest thing our world has to a Huntsman."

Pyrrha glanced at the little man as they walked. He certainly didn't have the look of a Huntsman, but physical appearance had no value on a person's actual capabilities, and Butters had shown he could go toe to toe with the Grimm and come out on top.

"I believe he may be superior, actually. Just one of those swords could be devastating against the Grimm."

Harry smirked, "Then I'll give the other Knight a call when we get out of here, even the score."

The thought of having two of those Swords on their side made Pyrrha grin with anticipation. It was a rare sight to see Grimm fleeing in terror, and now she was friends with someone who could do just that.

"Harry," Butters came to a stop, and raised _Fidelacchius._ "Do you hear that?"

Again they listened, and again they heard the grinding sound, and more. A faint tremor ran along the ground and walls, a rolling beat every other second. Pyrrha shuddered and rubbed at her chest. But more disturbingly, was the sound of a breeze gently passing along the tunnel. Pyrrha shivered and Harry sighed.

"That can only mean good things." he grumbled.

Butters lowered his sword and the light visibly dimmed until it was barely bright enough for them to see. Their pace doubled, and they descended deeper into the nest. The corridor twisted twice more, and the breeze grew stronger, accompanied by a familiar smell that had no business underground. The fresh scent of pine needles.

And then, suddenly, another source of light appeared ahead. It started out small, but quickly began to grow. After a minute, Butters put away _Fidelacchius_ , as the new light was bright enough for them to see. The rumbling grew stronger, a physical tremor comparable to a small earthquake, shaking dust and pebbles from the tunnel with each pulse.

Ice suddenly stabbed at Pyrrha's heart and she stumbled for half a step before catching herself. Harry and Butters didn't notice her fall as they walked. Pyrrha grabbed at the center of her chest and took a deep breath. With each pulse, the familiar cold tore at her core, filling her veins with frigid ice. Pyrrha remembered the feeling well, and knew for sure what they were going to find. She pushed herself forward and caught back up with the others as they finally reached the end of the tunnel.

It opened into an enormous cavern, dozens of feet deep and larger than aircraft hangar. Three pillars of stone supported the roof overhead, and all of the rock had an eery smooth sheen to it, as if cut by precision machinery. They stood on a ramp that spiraled to the right into the depths of the cavern.

Which was where a horde of Grimm blanketed the ground. A sea of black fur and scales, dotted with bone white masks and hundreds of fiery red eyes, filled the cavern. Beowolves and Ursa had gathered at the bottom of the cave in the dozens of not hundreds. There were no Creep to speak of, and while their numbers were great, they looked smaller than they should've been.

That meant the attack above had cut their strength down significantly. Pyrrha still wasn't dumb enough to think they could hope to take that many on, even with Butters sword. There were simply too many, and the greatest strength of the Grimm would always be their numbers.

"Oh… shit." Harry cursed under his breath, and pointed in the center of the cavern.

Pyrrha looked and agreed with the wizards words. Dead center of the cave, ignored by the milling Grimm, was a raised dais with three Blackstones arrayed in a triangular formation. Red script burned on their surfaces with an intensity so great that Pyrrha could see it even from where she stood. Held between the three as if balanced on their ends, was a glowing portal.

The shifting, two-dimensional shape was immediately familiar to Pyrrha and Harry, but this one was larger than the original by several magnitudes, large enough that an ursa could comfortably walk through it. Which was exactly what happened.

An Ursa fell through the portal on all fours, and lumbered into the horde, quickly joined by another, equally as fast. Between their falls from one world to another, Pyrrha saw flashes of the Emerald Forest of Vale. That explained where the Grimm were coming from, and confirmed two things.

Someone was consciously sending Grimm to Earth, and that Torchwick, despite his protests, was indeed aware of it. That lying scumbag would have a lot to answer for when Pyrrha got her hands on him, but for the moment…

Pyrrha leaned against the cavern threshold, taking deep breaths to ease the pain in her chest. Harry glanced back at her and cursed under his breath, "Crap. What's wrong?"

"Remember what happened the last time we saw one of those?" Pyrrha asked, careful to keep her voice low.

Harry winced, "Right. You're not in any shape to fight, are you?"

She shook her head, "Not at this moment. Give me a few minutes though…"

"Um guys," Butters said, "I don't think we have a few minutes."

Looking back over the edge, they could see the Grimm were beginning to move again, towards the ramp. Another curse from Harry, and he began tapping the bottom of his staff against the ground.

"I can destroy the portal, but that'll just stop more from coming through. We'll need to seal the cave off somehow." he said.

Pyrrha pointed up at the nearest pillar, that stood next to the ramp, "Destroy the pillar, the cave ceiling should come crashing down."

"That could cause a lot of damage on the surface," Butters pointed out.

"Compared to the Grimm, it'll be worth the damage," Pyrrha replied.

"And if the tunnel collapses on top of _us_?"

Harry sighed, "I can deal with that too. I'll open a way to the Nevernever after I destroy the portal and the pillar with my magic. Pyrrha, you still got that Dust we got from Lara yesterday?"

The girl reached into her pocket and fumbled the vial out into view, "Right here."

He nodded, "Good. That enough to destroy the tunnel?"

Pyrrha glanced at the vial that fit comfortably in the palm of her hand, and wobbled her free hand side to side, "Sort of. I'll explain later, but I should be able to block the tunnel with it."

"Then do it now," Harry said, and glanced down at the portal once more. "I've got the rest."

The runes on his staff began to glow a bright orange, and to Pyrrha's surprised, over seventy more ignited along its length, each a blazing fire that sent smolders into the air. Harry pointed his staff down at the ground, and took a deep breath.

 _Forzare!_

His baritone boomed, blasting off the cavern walls. A wall of silver erupted from the end of his staff, rolling through the air faster than a speeding bullet, and hit the trio of stones dead center. The closest was reduced to dust, the other two shattered into the gravel from the impact. The dais detonated into a cloud of debris, before the ruined spell released the pent up energy that had been focused through the three stones.

Three bolts of red lightning arched from where the stones had once stood, carving deep furrows into the ground and walls. Any Grimm caught in their path was instantly incinerated. Harry jumped back in surprise as one reduced the lip of the cliff into ash and sand, and continued upwards to the left, crashing into the other stone pillar. It shattered under the raw energy, and stone rained onto the hapless Grimm below.

The furious howls and bellows of the Grimm sounded a moment later, and the entire cave began to shake.

Pyrrha clutched the vial in her hand and focused. She was no master of Dust manipulation, but she knew enough about it that she could create a decent sized explosion if she needed. When the stones were destroyed, the ice in her heart had promptly vanished, letting her focus on the vial of raw energy in her hands.

Her Aura, her soul, her very being, poured into the particles of dust, supercharging the already volatile substance until it began to glow red hot. Dust on its own was unstable enough to be used as a basic propellant for firearms, it was how Atlas was able to use a machine army. But in the hands of a Huntsman, Dust could be bent to the will of their Aura for whatever purpose they needed.

And what Pyrrha needed now, was one hell of an explosion.

Harry shouted again, and the pillar by the ramp exploded into rubble and showering the stampede of Grimm racing up it. Pyrrha ignored the carnage and focused more of her Aura into the Dust, more than she would normally ever do with such a condensed amount. But this was no normal situation, obviously.

Only when the vial began to tremble in her hands did she stop, ignoring how exposed she felt with her Aura drained. Instead, she turned back toward the tunnel, and flung the vial as hard as she could. The following crimson explosion shook the entire cave, and smoke began to billow out of the entrance. The sound of crashing rubble followed a moment later.

 _Aparturum!_

New light flooded the cavern as Harry tore open a Way into the Nevernever with a wave of his staff and a harsh yell. Frigid air poured out of the Way, and Pyrrha saw spires of ice on the other side, briefly. Harry didn't give her or Butters time to gawk, opting to grab them both by their collars, and heaved them through the way with minimal effort. Howls of rage echoed behind them, and Harry spared one glance down the Ramp.

An Ursa was leading the charge up towards them, dozens of bony spikes rising from its back. It roared bloody murder, a noise no animal could hope to imitate, and flung itself through the air at Harry. That was when the ceiling finally gave way, and a piece of stone, the size of a truck, crushed the Grimm with a solid ' _thwump!_ '.

Harry took that as his cue to leave, and jumped through the Way, closing it behind him as he did.

He face planted into a snow covered floor a moment later, and sighed into the snow. The Mantle of the Winter Knight protected him from the cold, but landing face first on the ground was never pleasant, no matter the circumstances.

When no one bothered to help him up, Harry sighed and pushed himself up and wiped the snow off his face, "Everyone alright?" he asked, and blinked his eyes clear.

"Oh… _fuck_."

They had landed in a snow covered courtyard, but Harry couldn't make out the details, on account of the dozen or so hellhounds that surrounded them. The dogs were huge, like mastiffs crafted from shadow and ash. Their muzzles were pulled back in warning snarls, and they made no move aside from that.

Pyrrha and Butters were back to back with their weapons raised, but hadn't moved yet, thankfully. Harry stood up and said, "Guys, weapons down, now. You'll just make things worse."

"Harry, are you crazy?" Butters hissed.

Pyrrha did as she was told without a word, sheathing her weapons and raising her hands in the universal gesture of surrender. She trusted Harry's judgement, and if he thought they weren't in any serious danger, she would trust him.

Butters looked pained at the thought of thought of lowering his weapon, but ultimately did, hiding it within his robes once more. The moment he did, a woman's voice echoed across the courtyard.

"Ah, much better. I would hate for things to have escalated between us, mortals."

Pyrrha glanced up at the stairs and did a double take. A woman stood at the top of them, a living statue of near perfection. Her features were sharp and her hair was a coppery-red that fell down her back in rivulets. She wore a simple dress, primarily sea green and a deep blue along the bottom. Her skin was unnaturally pale, and her eyes were… Not human.

They were the color of amber, and the pupils were slit like those of a cat. The woman made eye contact with Pyrrha, and smiled. Her canines were noticeably sharper as well. The gesture unnerved Pyrrha, and she shuddered.

The woman's eyes fell back on Harry, and her smile grew wider, "It has been far too long since we last saw each other Harry, and a surprise visit to my manor? My my, what is a godmother to do?"

Pyrrha looked at Harry in surprise, but he didn't acknowledge her. He focused on the woman, his godmother, and bowed his head, "I...apologize, for dropping in, unannounced, Lea. If you give us just a minute, we'll be out of your hair as quick as we can."

Another hellhound strode up next to Lea, and she idly scratched at its ears, "Ah, but you are a guest here, my godson, and besides… There is so much catching up to do."

* * *

 **A/N: I'm back! Where did I vanish to? School, tests every day of the week, and a crippling Dark Souls addiction, mostly. I am going to try and update more in the future though. Headsup though, on November my updates may drop again, as I'll be participating in Nanorambo, which will take up my free time. Anyway, minor other announcement to clear things up, Remnant takes place right before Season 4 of RWBY would've taken place, just wanted that to be clear.**

 **Oh! And someone, I don't know who, has recently put up an article on TVTropes for this very fanfic! I am honored someone did this, but it is a little sparse, so if anyone feels like adding to it, please go on ahead.**

 **Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, review and let me know what you thought, and I will see you guys next time!**


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"Lea, as much as I'd love to catch up," Harry lied, "We are kind of in a rush right now, so if we could just be on our way..."

Lea moved down the stairs in a graceful glide. If her feet ever touched them, Pyrrha couldn't tell. The woman smiled as she reached the bottom of the steps, and said, "Ah, but you are my guests, dear godson. Besides, we have not seen each other in so long."

Her lips turned into a pout, "I had hoped your station as the Winter Knight would let us see more of each other. But alas, you never visit, you never call, and we have not conversed since the time of your death."

Pyrrha sent Harry a glance, and he sent her a 'not now' expression. Lea continued with her rambling, drifting around the trio as she did. Each hound she passed seemed to relax and sit in place, their tails thumping against the ground, a noise not unlike a thunderstorm.

"Yet here you are now, and you brought friends!" she clasped her hands together and let out a sigh.

Her cat-eyes fell on Butters as she said that, and she grinned. Like her eyes, it was very cat-like, and Pyrrha had to wonder if Lea was a faunus of some kind. She clearly wasn't human, and Harry was actually being respectful, though whether that was because she was his godmother, or because he was scared of her, Pyrrha wasn't sure.

Butters gulped and took a step back from Lea. The woman giggled, "Oh, sir knight, worry not. I could not hurt you, even if the desire struck me now. You are under the protection of...another, power."

Her eyes flicked skyward with a disdainful bit of spite, before flicking back down to Butters, "You are a welcome guest in my estate, and as such, protected under the Accords. You may rest easy."

Butters let out a small sigh. Pyrrha didn't move from her spot, growing more confused by the second. Lea looked to her the moment Butters let out his sigh, and curiosity flashed in those inhuman eyes.

"As for you, child…"

Lea drifted across the floor, hands clasped together in front of her, and still smiling. She stopped less than a foot away, and Pyrrha had to make a conscious effort not to step back. They were the exact same height, and Lea's cat-eyes stared into hers. The predatory curiosity in them aroused something primal in Pyrrha, an old instinct she had learned to suppress a long time ago. It was screaming at her now to get as far away as possible from Lea, or she was going to die.

Her rational mind had a hard time arguing with that, and she was about ready to bolt, when she saw Harry out of the corner of her eye. He was shaking his head furiously, an obvious warning. Don't do anything stupid. Running from Lea, obviously, had to fall under such a wide list of actions.

So she remained standing while Lea gazed into her eyes. Pyrrha returned the gaze, and really wished she didn't have to. Lea's eyes were just wrong, fundamentally wrong. A human with eyes like that should not be. There was no movement, no obvious emotion to them. Lea was a living statue, with the soul and mind of a predator, one that Pyrrha knew, at her core, she had no chance against.

The only sound that accompanied their staring, was the sound of a winter breeze skimming against the icy courtyard, and the thunder of the hounds wagging tails. Everything else, was silent.

Yet somehow, Pyrrha kept her gaze focused, until Lea finally spoke, in a voice oozing with curious intent, "I have never seen you before, child. Tell me, what is your name?"

Harry began frantically waving his arms from behind Lea, shaking his head no, before pointing to the sky and whispering. A colossal neon sign, an obvious glamour, appeared over his head. It read: NO!

That was rather obvious, Pyrrha thought. She remembered what Harry had told her about giving her name to Supernatural creatures, and Lea was obviously a supernatural being of some kind. Pyrrha was inexperienced, not dumb.

So, she lied to Lea. She took a deep breath and said, "My name is… Penny. It is a...pleasure, to meet you Lea. Harry never mentioned you."

That amused the woman greatly, "Ah, well, Harry rarely mentions me. It's almost as if he's ashamed of me!" she laughed.

Pyrrha awkwardly laughed with her, and sent a pleading glance to Harry. He nodded and cleared his throat, "Well, godmother, its-"

Lea's laughter stopped, "So tell me, Penny, when did my godson find such a lovely creature such as yourself?"

"...What?"

Harry's mouth slowly fell open in shock. Behind Pyrrha, Butters slapped the palm of his hand against his forehead, and let out a tired sigh. Lea smiled at Pyrrha.

"I knew he has been spending time with the former constable, but I hadn't expected the Mantle to convince him to take two-"

"W-wait!" Pyrrha immediately interrupted. She knew it was probably a bad idea, but…

Lea paused, and one brow raised expectantly. Pyrrha bit her lower lip, and took her step back. She tapped her fingers together nervously, and said, "Um, Lea, Harry and I aren't...um...it's not…"

"Pyrrha's just a guest," Harry interjected, walking up next to Pyrrha. She sent him a grateful look, and he winked.

Lea quirked her lips, "Just a guest, hmm?"

"Yep, just a guest. She's living under my house for now, and is under my protection." Harry added the last bit through clenched teeth.

His godmother tapped her chin with one finger. Pyrrha noted her nails were filed into practical laws and were practically glowing a light red. Lea regarded Harry and Pyrrha together, before saying, "In character, I suppose, godson, and I will not deny that your resistance to the mantles influence is, at the very least, an admirable show of willpower."

Harry blinked in surprise at the compliment. "Um, thank yo-"

"However!" Lea interrupted, loudly, "I am still disappointed, my godson."

"In what?" Harry asked, obviously dreading the answer. Pyrrha began to slowly step back, to make room in case things went south.

Lea looked back at her, and Pyrrha froze. The cat-woman pointed a finger at Pyrrha and said, "I am disappointed in her state of dress! Look at those rags, they are filthy! You're the Winter Knight, child, a guest of yours should be dressed in the finest material you have! Ugh, must I always cleanup after your messes!?"

Pyrrha, Butters, and Harry all blinked in unison, then looked at said rags. Admittedly, the focus on finding and containing the Grimm had taken priority, but Lea was technically right. Pyrrha was coated in grime and muck, her clothes torn, muddy, and all colored the same shade of sewer brown. The smell had faded somewhat, but it still wasn't pleasant.

"Well it's not great, but I can change later…" Pyrrha muttered.

"No no no, this will not do," Lea said, and started pushing Harry away.

"Hey!" he protested, "What're you-"

"Shush, let me indulge, child," Lea said, grinning her cat's smile once more. "I so rarely get these chances, it should take not but a few moments."

Harry stepped back and pinched the bridge of his nose. This was a better option than the alternative he had been fearing, but they really didn't have time for this. Of course, Lea was clearly in no mood to listen to Harry, and had found something of interest in Pyrrha.

The redhead looked at him nervously, "Harry…?"

"Just...stay still Pyrrha, and let her indulge. You're safe right now."

She swallowed nervously, and nodded. He hadn't steered her wrong yet, and Lea seemed more… eccentric, than dangerous. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

"First, lets clean away that grime," Lea said, and waved her hand over Pyrrha.

An odd rippling feeling, like water, rolled over Pyrrha's skin. To her amazement, the filth Lea had whined about simply evaporated from her skin. Every inch of her body was clean, as if she'd just finished taking a long relaxing bath. Her clothes even felt freshly washed and dried!

"There we go!" Lea said happily, then folded her arms and tapped her chin, "Now, what can replace those rags you call clothes? Hmm…"

She snapped her fingers, and Pyrrha felt the rippling feeling again, and her clothes changed before her eyes. And Pyrrha felt her face burn with embarrassment at what Lea had chosen. Immodest was an...accurate description of the outfit.

Her t-shirt and shorts had been replaced with garments of silk that were admittedly light and soft to the touch, and left little to the imagination. White bands of cloth covered her biceps and forearms, and more of the cloth was lightly held her chest in place. Her shorts had remained relatively unchanged, replaced with that white silk, and shortened significantly. More strips of cloth wrapped around her legs, creating the illusion of a robe, though Pyrrha knew better. Her tiara had been replaced with a white shawl that fell down her back, thankfully covering what had been made bare thanks to lea.

Pyrrha crossed her arms over her chest and turned as red as her hair. Harry and Butters both coughed and looked away awkwardly. Lea quirked her lips again, but said nothing.

"I…" Pyrrha's voice was small. "I'm sorry, but this is really impractical for me."

Lea smiled, "Ah, I had thought so! You're a lady of war, I thought I recognized it in your stance. My apologies, allow me to fix this!"

Another snap of her fingers, and the strips of cloth were replaced with heavy armor along every surface of her skin. Plates along her arms, legs, chest, torso and neck. It was surprisingly light despite the sheer size of it, but Pyrrha could barely move in it!

"No, no. Too heavy," Lea sighed, and snapped her fingers again.

The armor shrunk and vanished into what could generously be described as a metal bikini with a cloth loincloth tacked on. Pyrrha lit up once more, and struggled to cover herself, "Not okay! Definitely not okay!"

Lea rolled her eyes, "Mortals. Lady Maeve went into battle with less on many occasions, and never complained."

"Maeve was also a complete psycho," Harry pointed out, peaking past his hands at Pyrrha.

She sent him a withering glare and he wisely looked away again. Lea sighed and snapped her fingers once more. Several times she went through the motions, going from armor that was impractically large, to clothing that would likely get Pyrrha arrested if she ever wore it in public. After several minutes of this, Lea sighed and lowered her hand.

"You are unpleasable, child. You refuse heavier armors, and yet the lighter one I provide for you offend your sensibilities!"

Pyrrha sighed and tried not to look at Lea's most recent outfit. It was worse than the bikini in some ways, just a simple sheer dress that stopped at the top of her thighs and a metal pauldron on one shoulder, with leather boots to match and a belt around her waist. Harry and Butters had turned their backs at this point, refusing to look until Lea was done playing dress up.

Lea scratched at her temple, then grinned, "Ah, a simple solution! I should have thought of this sooner."

She moved up to Pyrrha, and placed her index finger in the middle of her brow. Pyrrha looked up, cross eyed, "Um…?"

"Remain calm, child, this shall take but a moment," Lea promised.

That was when Pyrrha felt the ice flow into her skull, and panic gripped at her. She recognized this feeling, it was the same feeling from when the Gatekeeper had removed the blocks on her memory. Another consciousness worming its way into her mind, something that should not be possible, and now Lea was doing it to her!

Pyrrha tensed, prepared to attack Lea for violating her space…

And the woman's presence retracted, and Lea frowned, "Hmm, interesting. My godson is quite the magnet for trouble."

Pyrrha's jaw slowly tensed, and she forced herself to calm down. "Lea, what did you just do to me?" she demanded, voice low.

Lea waved a dismissive hand, "T'was merely a brief look at your memories, so I could find what I needed. I did indeed learn much from your mind."

She snapped her fingers, and the rippling feeling returned one last time. When it passed, Pyrrha slowly looked down at herself, dreading the worse. Another glorified bikini, or over designed suit of armor perhaps? Or some bizarre nightmare suit torn from her mind?

No, it was none of those.

Instead, Pyrrha looked down and saw that she was dressed in her old armor!

A leather corset with bronze highlights was wrapped around her chest, she wore a pair of black shorts with a red sash secured around them, and bronze plate armor covered her legs. She was gloved again, her left arm clad in a gauntlet, and when she reached for her throat, she felt the familiar and comforting metal of the broach she had worn for years with her armor. Even her tiara was back in place, shiny and new.

"Sometimes, we must look to the past for our inspiration," Lea explained, and added, "The armor is not permanent, however. Come noon tomorrow, and the enchantment will fade, and your clothing shall return to its original shape. I would recommend you force my godson to find something more fitting for yourself."

She pointed up at her tiara, "I have also left an enchantment within your crown, young warrior. So long as you wear it, your mind shall be safe from further manipulation. It shall not last forever either, however, I believe it will assist you greatly in the conflicts to come."

As Lea spoke, her tone grew more serious, and the amusement faded from her eyes. Pyrrha felt a frown cross her lips, "I… thank you, Lea. But why?"

"A good question, I'd like an answer too," Harry said. He and Butters had turned back around now, and Harry looked two parts confused and one part angry at the first two parts.

"Fae never give away gifts like that for free. What gives?"

Lea smiled, "T'was no gift, child. I merely fulfilled your role of providing adequate needs for your guest. No more no less. If it is a gift you are seeking though, I could remove the remaining blocks within her mind, for a price."

Pyrrha's heart leaped into her throat. A chance to have the full picture again, to remove the agony inducing blocks on her mind? That would be worth almost any price, anything so she could remember what really happened in Vale.

"Name your price!" she shouted. Harry went wide eyed and stiff, Butters covered his face, and Lea grinned.

She curled a bit of hair around her index finger, and clicked her tongue, "My price? I could think of several fair trades. Your first born child perhaps? A year of servitude? Perhaps I could ask for you to reveal the full truth of this 'Aura' I saw scattered through your memories?"

Pyrrha's elation soured, and she scowled. "Nevermind then, Lea. I thank you for what you have done, but I will unlock my memories on my own. Your prices are far too steep."

Harry sagged with relief. Despite losing a chance at revealing her memories, Pyrrha actually felt rather pleased with herself on rejecting Lea's offer. Perhaps she was finally adapting to this supernatural game? At least a little, anyway.

Lea shrugged, "So be it. I suppose now I will send you all on your way, I've taken up enough of your time."

"Wait, you're serious?" Harry asked. "But you were just going on about keeping us here for god know's how long, as guests."

She turned her eyes on Harry, and her expression grew serious again, "I am allowed to change my mind, godson. Now, where were you intent on going before arriving here?"

Harry looked at her with suspicion, but said, "To the Alpha's, but you're-"

"Then off you go!" Lea interrupted, and snapped her fingers.

A winter breeze rushed through the air, and the ground itself parted beneath their in an instant. The trio didn't have time to so much as scream, before they were swallowed up and vanished from the Leansidhe's estate courtyard.

Once the floor closed, she sagged where she stood, and cupped her forehead. Her eyes were wide, and for the first time in eons, the sidhe woman became aware of an emotion she had long since forgotten.

Fear had returned to her, and if what she had seen in the girls memories held any truth, than it would soon return to the Nevernever as well. In a situation like this, there was only one course of action to take.

"I must warn her. I must warn my queen."

A miniature blizzard wisped through the air around her, quickly consuming Lea in a blaze of white wind. It faded moments later, and where she had once stood, only emptiness remained.

 **A/N: This was a short chapter, but for good reason. The following scenes I felt would've detracted from it. Lea is, I feel, an odd character best enjoyed in small doses. She is also, a complete and total troll.**

 **Of all the characters in the Dresden Files, I am convinced that Harry's Godmother exists for the sole purpose of trolling the hell out of everyone she meets. Maybe its just because she's nuttier than a peanut farm, but it makes her enjoyable to read and write. Admittedly, I didn't know what to do with her here, besides having her screw with Pyrrha for a bit, until I realized I could use her for some foreshadowing. As I did. We will see her again though, I can promise that. The spooky crazy sidhe lady shall return!**

 **Now, as for the outfits I subjected Pyrrha too... Well that was mostly fanservice. This entire chapter could be considered the humor/fanservice chapter. I needed something simple to practice my writing on, and this was it. Next chapter will get more serious, and we get to some more classic Dresden Files stuff, as Harry and the others begin some investigating again, after discussing the implications of the Grimm attack and Lea's odd behavior, of course.**


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

We dropped through the Way and landed at the front door of William and Georgia's apartment. Actually, we landed on the front door. I hit the door face first, immediately followed by Butters, and then Pyrrha slammed against the two of us. The door cracked under the sudden impact, and the hinges gave way under our weight, with us following suit. I'd say I've suffered worse, and I have, but nearly three hundred pounds of people being thrown at your back hurts, Winter Mantle or not. Our crash onto the ground was equally painful.

I let out a strangled gasp of "Ow" and didn't bother trying to get up.

"Harry?!"

"...Present…" I moaned, and pulled my head off the floor.

Murphy and the Alphas were gathered in the living room again, and Murphy looked like she had been preparing to leave, with one arm in the sleeve of her jacket, while the other was now hanging loosely behind her. William and Georgia had started to change, but when they saw it was just us, their features lost the wolfiness of the change.

I saw a dozen different emotions cross over Murphy's face, before she shrugged the jacket on, put her hands on her hips, and demanded, "Where the hell have you three been? You had m- us worried sick!"

Pyrrha and Butters groaned, and rolled off me, and I started to get up. Karrin sighed and moved to my side, helping me up. Her voice went low as she said, "I thought you were dead, Dresden. Why would you make me worry like that?"

"Heh, I like to keep you on your toes," I chuckled, then said louder so everyone could hear me, "how long were we gone?"

"Three hours." Georgia reported.

"What? But we were only there for a few minutes!" Pyrrha said.

That was about the typical reaction to Nevernever shenanigans. I leaned on my staff and said, "Reality and the Nevernever are in a bit of a strained relationship. Physics tend to be more suggestions than actual laws there. We're lucky it was only three hours."

Pyrrha leaned against the wall and started rubbing her temples. She was going to need time to process that, so I turned back to the others. Karrin had her hands on her hips and was wearing her interrogation face. Will turned off the TV and he and the others all looked at us too, expectantly.

I sighed, "We found a horde of Grimm under the street. Someone had placed a bunch of those stones underground, and the Grimm had made some sort of nest. What we fought in the streets was just a scouting party. There wasn't enough time for a clean getaway and stopping them, so we retreated into the Nevernever."

"That explains what we saw on the news," Georgia said. "A few minutes after we got the civilians out of the way, the entire roundabout sank a half dozen feet into the ground. News reports are saying it was a sinkhole. No one's said anything about the injured we saved."

"Probably being taken care of by SI," Andi noted, "If any of them mentioned what they saw, that'd bring them in, right Murphy?"

Karrin shrugged, "Probably. I'm not sure what protocol for SI is anymore, it's been a few years since I worked there. That's besides the point, where did you three land in the Nevernever?"

"The spooky, crazy death Sidhe lady," Butters answered.

That got a groan out of everyone. "Lea? Seriously? How'd you wind up there?"

"She's a Muse," I explained, "inspiration for artists and inventors alike, and we were under a big college campus. In hindsight, it makes sense. We're just lucky we landed there instead of a sentient garden or something."

I shuddered at the thought of where else the Way might've taken us. Jumping blind like we had was incredibly stupid and dangerous, and I wouldn't repeat the situation if I had the chance. But we didn't know if there were anymore Grimm in hiding, and using that vial of Dust to block the entrance might've just slowed them. A hundred plus Grimm breaking through into Chicago to wreak havoc just wasn't in the cards, so I had taken a gamble that thankfully paid off. I made a mental note to avoid doing that again, if possible.

"So if you landed in Lea's house, is that why we've got Xena, Warrior Princess in our apartment?" Will asked.

Pyrrha blinked and looked up, "Who's Xena?"

"TV show," Murphy explained, "buff warrior chick, wore a lot of leather armor, kicked a lot of ass."

I grinned at her, "You are so hot when you get nerdy, you know that?"

"Down boy," she flashed me a smile.

Pyrrha looked down at her outfit, confused, "I don't get it. What's wrong with my outfit, I wore this all the time back home."

Oh. Awkward.

I scratched at the back of my head, "Er, nothing wrong with it Pyrrha, it just… stands out a bit. Most people don't dress like that here. You'll turn heads with an outfit like that - well, more heads than usual."

She looked back up at me, "That was the idea, Harry. I'm a huntress, I'm supposed to stand out in a crowd. If there is a Grimm attack, seeing a hunter in combat boosts morale."

"It'd definitely boost something," Butters muttered under his breath.

Murphy sent him a dirty look, and I sighed, "Kids, come on. We've got bigger things to worry about than Pyrrha's outfit of the day. Will, Georgia, where's your phone?"

"Kitchen, by the fridge," Georgia said.

I nodded and pulled my keys from my coat, and tossed them to Pyrrha. She caught them and raised a brow at me. "The list of attacks that Marcone and Lara gave us are in the glovebox of the Blue Beetle. Can you go get them, please?"

She smiled and nodded, stepping over the fallen door into the hall. I went for the kitchen phone while Butters filled everyone in on any details I left out. I found their phone where Georgia said it was, and punched in Thomas' number. I'd hoped to give him a day off, but after what I'd seen today, there was going to be no rest for him.

On the third ring, a woman answered the phone, "Raith residence, Justine speaking."

Justine was Thomas's girlfriend, no debate about that. She had started out as another victim of Thomas's vampirism, but over the years the two had grown close together, culminating in Justine nearly dying to save Thomas when his hunger was at its most ravenous. That act of True Love had made Justine all but untouchable to Thomas, but that hadn't stopped them from pursuing a relationship. Now the two lived together, and had finally found a way to circumvent Justine's protection.

Which was how my half-brother wound up having wild threesomes every other night nowadays. Sometimes, life is particularly cruel.

But Justine's a nice girl, and I couldn't hold that against her. So I smiled and said, "Hey Justine, it's Harry. Is Thomas available?"

"Oh, Harry! It's good to hear from you again. Thomas just got home, let me go and check."

I heard her set the phone down and waited patiently. A minute later, Thomas answered the phone with a "Harry, I saw you on the news. Graduated from arson to full-on demolition now?"

"It was a joint effort," I replied, and added, "How you holding up?"

Thomas grunted, "Better. I've still got bruises in places bruises shouldn't be, but I'll live. You need me for something again?"

"We're investigating those leads Lara gave us. Figured I could do with your help, if you're up for it."

Thomas grunted again, "Course I am. When do you need me?"

I grinned, "Hour, hour and a half, I'll meet you in front of your apartment. Can you do something for me in the meantime?"

"Sure, what?"

I told him, and Thomas said, "Should be easy enough. You bringing Murphy and the redhead again?"

Pyrrha walked back through the door at that moment with the list in hand, glancing over it as she walked, her lips pursed in concentration. She set them on the table and leaned against the wall, where she pulled out one of the comic books she'd snuck into the Blue Beetle and began to flip through the pages.

"We're gonna be splitting up today," I said. "Cover more ground. So don't worry, your pride will remain intact."

"It wasn't my pride I was worried about," Thomas grumbled.

I winced, "Right. I'll see you in an hour then?"

"Bet on it."

He hung up, and I returned from the kitchen. Will had thought ahead and pulled out one of those big wall maps of Chicago, the kind you'd find on bad crime shows. It would probably have been easier to bring it up on a computer or something, but I'd probably fry it within seconds if I got too close, so old school it was.

Pyrrha folded up her comic and stood up as I approached, as did everyone else. "We're splitting up?" she asked.

"There's a lot of ground to cover, and not enough time to do it," I explained. "If we split up, we can cut that time in half."

That made her frown, "Someone could get overwhelmed Harry. There's a reason Huntsmen are trained in teams."

"I didn't say we were going solo, we'll pair off."

Butters, who was thumbing through the list and circling locations on the map in red marker ink, spoke up, "Most of these attacks are from a few days ago, and in pretty crowded areas Pyrrha. If the Grimm were trying to hide another horde like the one we saw, someone would've stumbled onto it by now."

Her frown turned into a scowl, "When the Grimm don't want to be found, they won't be. And these Grimm are far more intelligent than I would have expected."

Admittedly, I don't have a lot of experience fighting Grimm, obviously. Pyrrha had been at it for years, and would understand them better than just about anyone in the room. On the other hand, I had been at this business longer than she'd been alive.

"They're smartish," I agreed, "But they're not that smart. We don't have the resources to scour every place in time, and I'm pretty sure Lara's timetable wasn't accurate as she thinks it is. People might brush off what happened at the UC today, but another attack like that will turn heads."

Pyrrha sighed, "I don't like it though. It's dangerous, Harry."

"And what we just did wasn't?"

She sighed, "Fair enough. What did you have in mind?"

I smiled and explained the plan. Pyrrha and Karrin would investigate the alley again, more thoroughly. If they found a Blackstone, they would do what I'd done at Torchwick's warehouse. The Blackstones had a lot of potential energy, but were surprisingly stable, so long as they weren't damaged. While they went off there, Butters and the Alpha's would investigate a location of their choosing, and go through the same motions as Pyrrha and Karrin.

We'd all meet up afterwards at the headquarters for the 'Chicago Justice League' that Murphy had formed during my absence. It was a big castle-like building built over the site of my former apartment by Marcone. I wasn't particularly happy about that, but it had resources we didn't have on our own, and would give me a chance to coordinate with Marcones people after Thomas and I finished our investigation.

I stood up from the map and clapped my hands together, "That's about the gist of it. No machiavellian plots this time guys, just pop in and get out of there before anything has time to go down. Got it?"

They all nodded understanding, except for Karrin. She pursed her lips at the map, and said"You haven't told us where you're going Harry. Which site?"

I pointed at the map, an obscure location no one would recognize, that Butters had traced with red marker, "After Thomas and I link up, we'll head here, to Club Zero."

* * *

I parked in front of Thomas' apartment about thirty minutes later. He was waiting for me, with a stack of steaming Chicago pizzas in his arms. I shut off the Beetle and got out of the car, pointing at the nearest alleyway.

"Right here, and now?" he asked, and we walked.

I shrugged, "Might as well get it out of the way. How've things been here since Torchwick ran off?"

Thomas grunted, "I moved guards into and around the apartment. Torchwick tries anything, Justine will have plenty of time to get into hiding until I get back."

I glanced across the street. A big white SUV with tinted windows was parked next to the sidewalk. I couldn't see through the windows, but if I were a betting man, I'd say that was were the guards were positioned. Some of them anyway, there were plenty of apartments around and knowing Lara, she probably owned half the neighborhood at the least, whether the tenants knew it or not.

"Smart," I said aloud as we entered the alley, "We don't need Torchwick causing anymore trouble than he already has."

Another grunt from Thomas and he shifted uncomfortably, "Yeah, you could say that. Where's Murphy and the girl?"

"Karrin and Pyrrha are off investigating another attack site," I explained, "The Alphas are heading to another with Butters."

"Split up? You sure that's a smart idea?"

We stopped and Thomas set the pizzas on a nearby trashcan. I opened one up as I said, "I think Lara's timetable is off. No one knows about those Blackstones we found and far as I could tell, it's using some kind of magic that's out of my depth."

Thomas raised a brow, "The Dark Stuff?"

"Lots of it."

"What else did I miss after you dropped me off?"

"I'll explain later, but first…"

I gestured, and Thomas sighed. He plugged his ears and turned his back to me. Satisfied, I cupped my hands around my mouth to prevent lip-reading and began murmuring a name, over and over again, infusing my will each time.

I only had to repeat the name a dozen times or so before a shadow flickered through the air, and something the size of a hawk dropped from the sky, wings a humming blur, and stopped in place, hovering a few feet in front of me.

"You called, my lord!?" piped a shrill voice, like someone had overdosed on helium.

Thomas let out a sigh, "Can I turn around now?"

"Go ahead."

He did and we both looked at the little faerie that was closing on a solid twenty inches in height, with the build of a slender athletic youth and blurring dragonfly wings attached to his shoulder. He was dressed in a new outfit I'd never seen before, what looked like a tiny version of fae platemail. There was even a tiny helmet slung under his arm, which let the tuft of lavendar hair on his head explode like a dandelion. He wore several weapons on his being, secured by actual leather straps now. He still carried his letter opener sword at his side, but two new swords, actual tiny swords, were crossed over each other on his back. It was all very new and fancy and so… very unlike him.

I noticed that he'd taken a paintbrush to the armor, covering it in blue runes all over, except for the chest piece and the center of his helmet. There, an upside-down yellow triangle was painted, covered in tiny red dots, the 'Coat of Arms' for the Za-Lord's guard. That, was more in character.

"At ease, Major General Toot-toot," I said. "Do you remember Thomas? He's a friend."

Toot-toot loosened up and nodded, "Oh yes, I remember him. Hello!"

Thomas blinked and did a little wave. Toot-toot had already forgotten him and gave me a formal bow, "What is your bidding, my liege?"

Toot-toot had once been a Wildfae, faeries with no real allegiance in the Nevernever, who typically did their own thing. I'd used him to gather intel for me on a number of cases in the past, and in exchange, I paid him in mortal food. Pizza, in particular, was practically ambrosia for the Wild Fae, and it hadn't taken long for word to spread. The Little Folk weren't the most focused or dangerous of beings out there, but for simple tasks, they could be very easily motivated, and most people paid them so little attention that it made them the perfect spies.

So over the years, Toot-toot had formed the Za-lord's guard, a sort of elite honor guard that I could call on in exchange for a pizza or four. Odds were good that the militia would have to be called in too, but that was for another time.

"All business today, Toot," I said, "and I'll need you to gather everyone we can." I opened up the top pizza for him to see. "Consider this the initial payment. Do this right, and there's more where this came from."

I didn't normally pay this much, but given the risk I might be putting the Little Folk under, I figured they'd deserved it. Toot-toot's eyes slid to the pizza, then back to me, "Of course, my liege, very good."

They fell back to the pizza, "Um, my lord..."

I removed my hand from the box, "One piece, that's i-"

Past experience had prepared me for what happened next. Toot pounced on the pizza box like a lion taking an antelope. He crashed into it, swords flashing until the top of the box was cardboard, and seized the largest piece he could. Thomas and I both watched with morbid fascination. No matter how many times I saw it, watching Toot devour a slice of pizza that was proportionally the size of a small car was quite the sight.

"I swear I get sick every time I watch that." Thomas said. I didn't disagree with him.

Toot spun in a dizzy, entranced circle on one heel, and fell onto his back with pure bliss, his armor tight around his ballooning stomach. He made happy gurgling noises and licked the grease off his gauntlets.

"Ew."

"Toot," I said, "What's up with the new armor? Did you and the guys raid a soda can factory or something?"

Toot heaved himself up, his body already deflating to its normal build, "No my liege, it was a gift!"

I raised a brow, "A gift? From who? Lacuna?"

Lacuna was another pixie I had… acquired as an employee, who used to work for a someone trying to kill me. By the rules of Faerie, she was my prisoner and therefore my responsibility. Toot had taken on that role since then, supposedly, and was completely smitten with the little tooth fairy. Far as I knew, Lacuna did not return the gesture, though things could have changed since last I'd seen the two.

Toot let out a dejected sigh, "No, not Lacuna. She's been acting really weird for a few days now, well, weirder than usual. A lot grouchier and mean. Harry, you understand women, right?"

Thomas snorted and I awkwardly scratched at my head, "Er, no. Not really, sorry buddy."

His wings sagged, "Darn."

"You haven't answered my question though."

Toot perked back up, "Oh, right! It's a gift from her majesty the Winter Lady! She had suits and weapons made for the whole Za-Lord, said it was to 'honor our service to one of Winter's greatest warriors' or something like that. I dunno, but it looks really neat!"

That caught me off guard. The new Winter Lady, my former apprentice Molly Carpenter, had been absent from my life for several months now. Her duties had taken her out of Chicago, and frankly, I was more than a little nervous about seeing her again. Molly had once been a 'normal' wizard like me, until the previous Winter Lady, Maeve, had been killed about two years ago. Since then, I'd only seen Molly once, when she showed up in the nick of time to help me deliver Bonnie before the spirit had split my skull open like a watermelon. It was during that visit I saw that Molly truly wasn't human anymore. She freely interacted with technology with no fear of it shorting on her, something a human wizard could never do unless their talent was next to nonexistent. Molly was a friend and ally, but the sway of Winter was a strong one, something I knew all too well.

But the fact that she'd used her sway in the Winter Court to armor up my personal guard? That was… very Molly of her. The power of the Winter could be dangerous, but it was not irresistible.

I smiled, "Well, it fits you Toot, give her my compliments if you see her again."

Toot nodded, "Uh-huh, you got it sir! Now, what was the job you wanted us to do?"

"Right," I clapped my hands together. "Remember where Bill and Georgia's house is? We went over this a few times."

"That's the werewolf house right?"

"Bingo. There's a map inside with a list of locations I need you and the Za-lord to investigate. Don't attack anyone, I just need you to pop in and out and tell me if you find anything suspicious."

Toot tilted his head to the side, "Like?"

"Big giant wolves with glowing red eyes, or other creatures like that. Oh, and Blackstones, about your height and covered in red writing. You can't miss them, they tear holes through dimensions."

I saw Toot visibly shuddered, "Outsiders, Harry? I dunno, the guys will be pretty nervous about that."

"Just a recon mission, Toot," I assured him. "If things get too dangerous, retreat. I won't hold it against you."

Toot brandished his sword and scowled, "The Za-lord's guard never retreats my liege, we advance to future victory! Your task shall be done!

I smiled, "That's the spirit. When you guys finish up, head to the Chicago Justice League Castle. I'll meet you there and I'll get a full report from you there. Understood, Major General?"

The tiny faerie slapped his helmet on and saluted, "By your will liege, no stone shall be forgotten, no corner unturned, and no pizza left cold!"

He shot into the clouded sky, and vanished. Thunder boomed seconds later, and a fat drop of rain splashed on the bridge of my nose.

I scrunched up my nose in disgust. "More rain, great."

Thomas grunted his agreement, and we returned to the Blue Beetle. I glanced back down the alley and saw that the pizzas we'd left out were gone already. The Little Folk worked fast, I just hoped they wouldn't get hurt for my sake. I didn't think the Grimm would pay them any attention, but I had no way of knowing until I met with him again at the headquarters.

"So," Thomas said as we got into the Beetle, "Care to enlighten me on what I missed?"

I let out a long sigh and started up the car, "Buckle up, you're in for one wild ride."

* * *

I explained everything we had learned in the past day or so to Thomas. What we learned about the Blackstones, which was next to nothing, what Rashid had unlocked from Pyrrha's memories, which was infuriating, and what we learned from the UC, which was ominous as hell. I only finished up my exposition right as we were pulling up at Club Zero.

Thomas folded his arms and let out a long sigh, "So we know someone is purposefully tearing open rifts across dimensions, we know that they may or may not possess power that might be on par with a Fae Queen, and we have no idea how long until Chicago drowns under an ocean of claws and fangs. Damn Harry, less than 24 hours for you to take an already bad situation, and make it even worse. That has to be a new record."

* * *

 **A/N: Things ran late, this chapter went through a few different changes, I apologize. It was also going to be longer, but my editor convinced me it would be for the better to break it off here. I kinda agree with him, honestly.**

 **Now, I don't know when my next update will be, hopefully on Saturday, but I can't make any promises. I've got a Spanish Project and Test next week, and college transfers are coming up, so I've got that to worry about too. I'll try anyway though, because pushing myself is something I take perverse pride in.**

 **Anyway, next chapter will be another Dresden File, and its gonna... be interesting, for poor Harry.**

 **See ya all next time!**


	20. Chapter 19

**Edited: October 24th, 2016**

 **Chapter 19**

The rain was coming down hard when I parked the Blue Beetle on the street leading to Zero. Of all the clubs on Chicago, Zero was the one least talked about, and the most infamous. You could easily find a club for every minority, majority, ideology, and orientation in Chicago. Zero was a club that catered for all four, sprinkled with practically every fetish and kink known to mankind, and possibly a few others as well. If you found your way to Zero, you found your way into sensual ecstasy, so I had heard.

The place unnerved me personally, because I knew who ran it. It was a front for the White Court of vampires, for Lara and her operations. To me, Zero hadn't been a club for sexual freedom, it was a mirrored cage that painted a disconcerting view of what a world ruled by the White Court would be. Emotionless, unfulfilling, and hungry.

Zero limits.

Zero inhibitions.

Zero restraint.

Zero fulfillment.

It had made for a grimm reminder of what the White Court really was, despite how human they appeared. That is, until the Grimm had decided to show the vampires what the world they would create was like, and how very powerless they were to stop them. I didn't even need to see inside the building to know that the Grimm had destroyed Zero, and any unfortunate soul trapped inside.

Severe and traumatizing events leave a 'stain' in the energy of the world, a black mark that anyone with sufficient awareness can feel. It's a dark feeling that gets under your skin and can drive a person mad if it's strong enough. These 'auras' are, consciously or not, avoided by people, whether they acknowledge it or not. It's an animal fear that tells us that going near it will only cause trouble.

And parking in front of Zero? I felt a wave of despair and terror settle over me, like a heavy Chicago snow, muffling my every thought and instinct. The Grimm had hit Zero hard and fast. I shuddered at the image of those first few terrifying minutes and what it had done to the people inside.

"Jesus," I muttered as I put the Beetle in park.

Thomas grunted, "You can feel it too, huh?"

"The overwhelming sensation of death and horror that is literally seeping out of every corner of this godforsaken place?"

"Yeah, that."

We got out of the Beetle and rushed through the rain to the building. The club had what looked like a fire-exit door at the bottom of a stairway, a story below street level in the side of a downtown building. The key word was had. That heavy door had been ripped clean off its hinges, and was embedded in the nearby wall. There were faint rust stains splattered across the stairs. I recognized them for what they were, bloodstains. In the general panic to escape, it would've been easy for the Grimm to slaughter everyone in sight.

How the hell had Lara managed to keep this covered up?

We approached Zero and I saw that there was police tape plastered across the door and inside. Within the threshold, a guard was leaning against the wall so you could only see him if you approached the door, which the tape would discourage.

The gears clicked.

Lara had let the cops in, but she must have pulled some serious strings to keep this hush hush from the media. A club like Zero being wiped off the face of the earth would attract a lot of attention, if only for all the rich clientele lost in the process. Her pull in the mortal world was even greater than I had suspected.

"Guess we should be thankful they were clearing it out," Thomas said.

Or the explanation was far less sinister.

"Wait, what?" I asked.

My brother glanced at me, "Zero changes location every couple of years. Lara was making plans to move uptown in a month or two and had crews dismantling it. If the attack had hit sooner, there'd be no way to cover up the fallout."

"So, what? The attack was just really good timing?"

"For a measure of good."

We got inside, and the guard stood up. Thomas flashed his ID for the man to see, and once he got a good look, he motioned for us to move forward. The stairway walls were covered in white plastic sheets. Given the bloodstains on the stairs, I was very grateful for the plastic, obvious as it was.

Zero itself looked no better.

The last time I had been there, it had been a dark place filled with flashing strobe lights, dangling cages, and protruding balconies high along the walls. It had been a maze of walkways, sex, and everything in between. Now, it had none of that.

The walkways had been stripped away, leaving a wide open room about the size of your average basketball court, and slightly shorter. The balconies had been torn down and temporary interior walls covered the stairways that connected them to the ground floor. Industrial lights filled the club with their harsh glow, and all the tiles and paneling had been ripped up. A disco ball of all things, was all that hung from the ceilings. Cardboard boxes had been packed in the corner to our immediate right, and I didn't want to know what they were filled with.

Perhaps more disturbingly, the walls were practically painted in tape up plastic sheets, and several areas of the floor were cordoned off with police tape. I could see chalk outlines were bodies had fallen in the attack, and chunks of concrete had been gouged out from the ground.

"What are we looking for exactly?" Thomas asked while I surveyed the room.

"Another Blackstone," I explained. "Right now, those things seem to be how the Grimm are popping up. I don't think there's one here, but if there is, we'll want to find it and destroy it."

Thomas nodded and walked off, "And if we can't find it, we're meeting up at Marcone's castle?"

I frowned, "I wouldn't call it a castle, just… a really big bunker."

"Aren't bunkers usually underground?"

"Sometimes. The old World War II ones aren't."

"This isn't World War II."

I scowled, "Just look for the stupid stone."

"Aye aye sir," Thomas gave a mock salute and disappeared up the stairs.

I let out a sigh and started to scour the ground floor. I didn't dare open my Sight in Zero, the amount of emotional baggage this place had would likely leave me drooling in a straitjacket for the rest of my life. So I was left to investigate this the old-fashioned way. I held out my left hand, the side of your body that absorbs energy, and walked forward to the nearest crime scene.

There was a ladder leaning on its side by the wall, its bottom half bent at an odd angle. I looked from it to the chalk outline. There was another dark stain on the ground where the man had fallen from the ladder onto the ground. A couple dozen furrows surrounded the blood stain, where the Grimm had probably mauled him. What a way to go.

I didn't sense anything particularly unusual, so I moved onto the next crime scene. A few years of PI work exposes a guy to a lot of nasty things. You either learned to roll with the punches after a while, or you got out of it as fast as you could. Maybe if I'd seen the original bodies, my stomach would be twisting itself into knots. But this was child's play compared to some supernatural attacks I'd dealt with.

The next two crime scenes didn't cough up anything new either, just more disturbing ideas of what the Grimm had done. The attack had been fast and brutal, a lot of people had been cut down before they even knew what was going on. Which begged the question; where were the Grimm now?

I looked up at where the stairs that Thomas had vanished into, and felt a lump form in my throat. "Thomas?"

No answer.

My hand creaked as it tightened around my staff, and I took a wary step towards the stairway, "Thomas, you there?"

I waited five eternal seconds, my heart thudding against my ribcage, before I started to gather my will. I took a cautious step forward, and reached into my coat for my blasting rod. If Thomas had gone quiet, then that could only mean…

"What is it Harry?" Thomas demanded, emerging from the stairway with an irritated expression on his face.

It could only mean that I was being a paranoid idiot. I let out a sigh of relief and released my will. The Grimm were dangerous, sure. But nothing we'd seen from them suggested they were particularly intelligent. They might lay a trap or two, but animals in the wild did that all the time, and not several days in advance for an enemy that may or may not show up at all. I had just gotten riled up by the energy surrounding Zero, that was all.

I tried to look bored and not at all paranoid, "Just wondering where you went. It just occurred to me that splitting up might not be the best idea, if there are Grimm running around."

Thomas raised a brow, "You really think I can't handle myself?"

"Oh no, you could handle a few fine," I assured him. "But, these things love to attack in numbers. Splitting up is a bad idea."

My brother shrugged, "Fine. But if you're so worried about it, why split everyone up in the first place? Especially since you were just going to summon Toot-Toot."

We walked to the left of the club as I said, "I didn't, technically. Everyone went off in pairs. Pyrrha with Murphy and Butters with the Alphas. It's better than sitting around doing nothing, and until we figure out what's going on in Pyrrha's skull, all we can do is search and try to shut these portals."

"So why not call Molly then?" Thomas asked. "She's got more experience with this than the White Council does, or hell, call up your boss. This would be right up her alley."

I shuddered, "Yeah, I considered that, right up until we landed in Lea's manor. Something was… off about her."

My brother sent me a quizzical expression.

"Off more than usual," I amended. "When she looked in Pyrrha's head she… I dunno, freaked out, almost. I think the Fae might already know about what's going on. And if they do, then that means my boss won't be in the summoning mood. She'd probably string me up by my entrails if I did. I'd rather not risk it."

That seemed to ease Thomas's concerns, as he nodded, "Alright, fine. But what about Molly?"

We hit the stairs and I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose, "I called her before we went to Edinburgh. I tried again at Billy and Georgias. All I got was voicemail, so she's preoccupied."

"Or Mab is... keeping her out of contact..." Thomas said. His voice trailed off and we looked at each other.

I swallowed and said, "You don't think that Mab...ya know."

"Dragged Pyrrha here and flung her at you?" Thomas said.

I cursed and slammed my staff against the ground, "Son of a bitch, it makes sense. The only one here with anything to gain from breaking dimensions like that is Mab. She brought Pyrrha here to-."

My train of thought was promptly derailed by a furry black shape that seemed to fall from the ceiling and shake the ground when it landed. Thomas and I went dead silent as the Grimm slowly rose and swung its head around to glare at us. I recognized it as a Beowolf, but not the kind I had fought at the UC.

This guy was built like a truck, thich limbs and a torso wide as a tree. Shards of bone jutted from its arms and shoulders in perfect symmetry and it had razorlike bonegrowths running along its back. Its face was the most startling difference, a snout much longer and broader with fangs the size of steak knives. A harsh red glow emanated from its skull-like face, where its eyes would be, and from deep within its throat. The beast looked like it was on fire from the inside out, even emanating some sorta black smoke from its fur. Whatever this thing was, it was obviously different from the Grimm at the UC.

Its eyes focused on Thomas, then me. It snarled, and a dull grey tongue wrapped around its fangs. Saliva dripped from its teeth to the floor, and it began to prowl towards us with clear intentions.

"Yeah, no," I said, pointing my staff at it, and gathering my will.

'Forzare!'

Energy lanced from my staff toward the Grimm in a rolling cloud of unseen force. The cloud hit with the force of a truck and… And the Grimm dug its claws into the ground and weathered the blow. Oh don't get me wrong, it still went skidding back a good dozen feet or so, and its skull visibly cracked under the strain. But it left ten thick gashes in the concrete floor and the moment my spell faded, the Grimm lunged at us.

Thomas met the Grimm mid-jump, body checking it with his shoulder. Now, White Court Vampires are not the strongest of the big three (or is it two now?), or even when compared against the supernatural world in general. They're plotters and schemers through and through, but when I say they're weaker, I mean in a relative sense. No normal human can match a White Court in a physical confrontation, and Thomas had been holding back against Pyrrha. I don't know who would've won between those two, but I did know this; Thomas was going to kick that wolf's ass.

The two tumbled through the air, and Thomas disentangled himself from the beast and made a perfect landing ten feet away. The Grimm shattered concrete when it hit the floor, digging shards of bone into the ground to slow itself. It was already standing before it had completely stopped, and roared at Thomas. It was a skin-crawling noise, more like a lion's bellow than a wolf's howl.

Thomas didn't give two shits though, and pulled his saber from under his coat, along with his Desert Eagle. Too impractical in human hands, but like I've said, my half-brother is far from human. He wielded that oversized hand cannon like a pea-shooter, and went full gun-kata on the Grimm.

It slashed at him with its claws, blows that would decapitate him. My brother, his eyes glowing silver, effortlessly dodged its swipes and waited for an opening. He found it when they reached one of the crime scenes. Thomas ducked under the tape and the Grimm barreled into it. Its size made the tape a non-issue for the most part, but it was enough to slow the beast.

Thomas lunged forward, drawing his saber across the Grimms hindquarters, and planting the barrel of his pistol against its back. It barked three times, leaving large glowing wounds in the Beowolf's hide. The Beowolf fell onto the ground and twisted around remarkably fast, claws extended and mouth wide open.

Thomas whipped his sword in an upwards motion, severing the Beowolfs hand from its arm, while at the same time, shoving his other hand in its open mouth and hammering the trigger. One loud bang later, and the back of the Grimm's skull shattered, and it immediately started to dissolve.

"Yuk," Thomas wiped the black goop off his arm and saber, as the Grimm faded into nothing. He sent me a look once he was clean, and said, "Thanks for the help Harry. Really appreciated."

"You had it handled. Besides, you were too close for me to get in a shot, I didn't want to fry you."

My brother opened his mouth for a retort, when the ground shook again. Three more Beowolves hit the floor, one behind my brother, and two to my left and right. They all took after the deceased, and looked none too pleased with us.

I saw Thomas close his eyes and take a deep breath. The Grimm began to growl, a low rumbling from the center of their chest that shook the air. Once again, I tightened my grip on my staff and started gathering my will. If it was just me and the Grimm, I could've tapped into the Mantle of the Winter Knight and frozen the monsters solid. But with Thomas directly in front of me, I was limited in exactly what I could do. To my shock, I realized that was exactly what the Grimm were counting on.

"Hells Bells…" I muttered under my breath.

And the Grimm lunged.

I brought up my shield in a dome around me, that both beowolves bounced off of with a hollow 'boing!'. Thomas whirled around and kicked the third into the nearest, then jumped after it. I didn't see how the fight unfolded from there, as my problem was two-fold. The closer of the two Grimm was circling around me, dragging its claws along my shield, looking for a weakness of some kind. It wasn't going to find any yet, but I knew I couldn't keep my shield up forever.

The second one looked between me and to the sound of fighting between Thomas and the third Beowolf. It turned its back on me and started prowling towards my brother while he was distracted.

Shit.

"Thomas, heads up!" I shouted.

My brother threw the Beowolf over his shoulder at the one sneaking up at him. The two monsters rolled across the floor and into the nearest wall. Well, that was one way to deal with it.

I dropped my shield and thrust my staff at the last one standing and shouted 'Forzare!'

The Grimm was launched across the room and crashed into its packmates, knocking them onto the floor again. I didn't give them a chance to get up, tapping into my Mantle and grasping the icy tendrils of Winter within. Frost formed along my staff and the floor, and the air temperature dropped twenty degrees in seconds. I barely even registered it as I pointed my staff at the wolves, and snarled, 'Infriga!'

A miniature blizzard whipped through the air and engulfed all three Beowolves in ice, freezing them to the wall, a thick fog of frost billowing behind it. It only took a moment, before three large blocks had taken their place. Inside, I watched as the Beowolves eyes rotated in their sockets, helpless to escape, and then… The Grimm just dissolved, evaporating within seconds to leave a hollow shell in their wake.

The frost began to blanket the room, quickly obscuring visibility. I lowered my staff and let out a weary sigh, "Thomas, you alright?"  
"I'm fine. Took a little off the tank, but nothing serious." he said, though I couldn't exactly pinpoint him through the fog.

"Right, well, we should head out of here, call in some backup. We found trouble, and I don't wanna run up against it alone."

My brother let out a pent up breath, "Right, I guess-"

The air shook, and Thomas made a startled noise. I raised my staff, "Thomas!?"

No response, and I couldn't see shit through the fog! I ground my teeth and snarled, 'Ventas servitas!'

A gale force wind suddenly picked up and carried the fog away, clearing the room within seconds. Just in time for a big black fist to plow into me and send me careening through the air into the cardboard boxes by the exit. If instinct hadn't forced me to raise my shield at the last moment, my chest would've been reduced to a pulpy mess. Instead, I just 'oofed!' when I crashed, and sent boxes flying. Most of them were half empty with styrofoam peanuts, thankfully. The other half were filled adult toys and objects I don't feel comfortable sharing. Lets just say there was a lot of poking with things in places that should not be poked.

I brushed something feathery out of my face, and blinked my eyes until the room stopped dancing in my vision. When it settled down, I saw the Grimm that had attacked me, and was holding Thomas in its left hand.

It was twice the size of the Beowolves, easy, and had the basic shape of a Gorilla, if Satan took time out of his day to design one, that is. It had sledgehammer-sized fists, bigger than my chest, and was covered in plates of bone that acted as a sort of makeshift armor. Like all Grimm, it had a white bone mask, though this one was much smaller than the usual Grimms. Oh, and its mouth was lined with razor sharp teeth of course.

Glowing red eyes glared at me from under that mask, filled with an actual emotion. Hate. This thing hated me with an absolute soul-searing passion. It wanted nothing more than to crush me into a Dresden-sized pancake, and yet it didn't. I looked past it at the wall of ice and felt a chill not at all related to the temperature.

This Grimm understood what I was capable of, saw that its sneak attack hadn't killed me, not for lack of trying mind you, and it was holding onto my brother to keep me off it. As insurance. Stars and Stones, this thing was smart enough to pull a friggen hostage situation on me!

I had underestimated the Grimm. They weren't just animals capable of some intelligent decisions. They were, to some degree, a malevolent, powerful, and most of all, intelligent force. And now one of them had my brother in its oversized hands.

Thomas for his part, looked more pissed than worried about the oversized gorilla clutching him. His left arm was pinned to his chest, and the right still held his pistol. He hadn't used it yet, and I could understand why. With animals, big game tend to have a hide thick enough to repel most small arms fire, and while Grimm weren't animals and a Desert Eagle could only generously be described as 'small', the risk wouldn't be worth it as long as he was trapped in its grasp.

I slowly pushed myself up from the boxes, careful not to touch anything that might give me an STD, and faced the Grimm. It let out a snort and a low growl rumbled from its chest. That seemed to be a thing with them. I returned its growl with a glare and growl of my own.

"I'm going to warn you once, Kiddie Kong. Put. My brother. Down. Now. Or this'll get real ugly, real fast."

I wasn't entirely sure if it could understand what I was saying, but the tone of my voice probably tipped it off. Gorilla Grimm reared up on its hind legs and bellowed at me. The entire room shook at its voice, and I'll admit, I took a step back out of instinct. Something that big making that much noise tends to make the brain go into full 'get the hell out of here' mode.

I didn't though, because I'm an idiot like that, and because of Thomas. Who saw his opportunity and seized it.

He jammed the barrel of his gun against its hand, and fired the last rounds into its hand. The gorilla was still roaring, but it was much angrier, and released Thomas on instinct. My brother rolled out of the line of fire, and I sighted the Grimm with my blasting rod. I grabbed onto the smoldering anger that seeing the monster with my brother had created, and forced it all into my spell.

'Fuego! I snarled.

When it comes to the supernatural, fire is the go to weapon in most situations. It's a natural cleansing power, and most beings in the supernatural world have a healthy respect for it. Obviously, this makes it a very potent form of offensive magic, one that I happen to have a lot of experience with. It only stood to reason that something as dark and evil as the Grimm wouldn't stand fire.

Turns out I was right.

A wave of fire rippled through the air and slammed into the Grimms shoulder, spinning it like a top and setting its fur ablaze. The Grimm roared in unholy rage and charged at me, rolling forward on its four oversized limbs. So now I had half a ton of pure eldritch rage barreling down on me, and it was on fire. Nice one Dresden.

I stumbled out of the boxes and started running to the left, raising my shield as a protective barrier. The Grimm crossed the distance between us in seconds, and slammed its shoulder against my shield. Ripples of blue energy danced along the dome, but my shield held. The force of the impact, however, knocked me off my feet and sent me rolling across the floor until I hit the wall. Something might've cracked, but I couldn't tell.

The ground started to shake again, and I heard Thomas's voice call out,"Harry!"

I blinked a few times and looked up. The gorilla was charging again, the entire left side of its shoulder and face still on fire. It should've been completely engulfed by now, but for some reason, the fire was taking its sweet ass time to burn the monster.

I struggled to get my legs under me, even with the Winter Mantle, I had not been prepared to be launched clear across the room twice in a row. My response was taking too long, and I might have died then and there, if it weren't for my brother.

Thomas came falling from the sky, eyes blazing white hot, and his saber flickered through the air as he hit the Grimm. It sank to the hilt in the creatures right shoulder, and Thomas's sudden impact threw it off course. The Grimm barreled through the wall to my right, spilling debris everywhere, and igniting sheets of plastic and paper that had covered the wall. The construction site had been a tinder box waiting to go off, which was why I'd been trying to avoid using fire. There was no guarantee that burning Zero down would destroy the Blackstone, and we still didn't know where it was.

Of course, now that was a bit of a background issue. My body was my own again, and I staggered to the hole the two had made. The sounds of the two clashing shook the building. The Grimm roared in furious rage, and I heard Thomas's pistol bark several times. I peeked past the wall and watched the insanity unfold.

Thomas slid between the Grimms legs, slashing at it with his saber to no avail, and popping up on the opposite side. The Grimm twisted around way faster than it should've, using its forearm as a sledgehammer. Thomas ducked, barely avoiding having his head knocked off. The Grimms arm slammed into the wall with the force of an artillery cannon, and the building shook.

My brother yelled and shoved his saber through the palm of its open hand, forcing it to the hilt. He used his free hand to open fire on the Grimms face, emptying his Desert Eagle at its face. I watched the monsters head rock back from the blow, and felt a moment of elation. That had to do it, even the Grimm hadn't been able to tank bullets that easily.

The gorilla sagged for a moment, and the fire on its shoulder finally puttered out…

And then it promptly ripped its arm free of the wall and wrapped one oversized hand around Thomas's head.

"Shit!"

The gorilla slowly brought its head around to look at my brother. The mask on its face had been shattered, and its left eye was a dying cinder in its socket. But the Grimm was still very much alive, and its jaws quivered with anger. It opened its mouth and unleashed a deafening roar in my brothers face, covering it in Grimm Spittle.

'Infriga!' I yelled, and promptly froze the Grimms right arm to the floor. It looked at its arm in surprise.

Thomas kicked his leg up into the beasty's face, and I think I saw a tooth chip. It released him in surprise, and snarled at my brother. The backhand sent him flying back out of the hole and crashing to the floor. He didn't get back up.

"Thomas!" I ran to my brothers side, confident that I had bought us time with that freezing maneuver. I'd once abandoned someone to handle a supernatural monster once before, and they'd paid with their life. I wouldn't make that mistake again, not with my brother at risk.

By the time I reached him though, he was already pushing himself back up. His right arm was hanging at an odd angle, and the entire side of his face resembled a Jackson Pollock painting, but he looked alive.

He swung his head around to look at me, drunkenly, and slurred, "Heeeey Harry….did we wiiiiin?"

I heard a low crack, and the ground began to shake again. I looked at the hole, and saw the Grimm come padding out, its arm still encased in ice, but shattered. Now it was a sharpened stake of snow and ice. The Grimm looked at it's frozen arm and then at me, and snarled.

"Hells bells," I muttered.

I stood up and channeled the Mantle of the Winter Knight. The Grimm recognized what I was doing, and didn't bother to roar. It just jumped. It jumped over forty feet in a single bound, to get at me.

God I hate my life.

'Infriga!'

I didn't have time to make the spell focused or controlled, so I wound up unleashing an uncontrolled burst of steaming white frost. I swear that doesn't normally happen to me.

It hit the Grimm hard though, and most of the ceiling behind it. Stalagmites formed in an instant, and ice embraced the monster in its cold arms, freezing it mid jump. The block hit the ground a moment later, with its prize sealed inside.

I let out a sigh of relief, and whooped half heartedly, "Yeah...woo...Who's the boss? Yeah, I am...thats me…"

I promptly fell on my ass next to my brother and groaned. The fire had begun to spread from the wall to the floor and ceiling, and the smoke was starting to become noticeable. In another few minutes, the entire building would be ablaze.

Thomas's arm snapped back into place, and he winced, "Well...I guess we should get going…"

"Yeah," I muttered, and I slowly stood up, and offered Thomas a hand.

Once he got on his feet, we heard a low, sharp crack, followed by the sound of grinding ice. We both froze and slowly looked at the frozen Grimm. It hadn't evaporated, and the ice around it was slowly starting to crack.

"No, no no no!" I screamed. "That's bullshit! This isn't a comic book, you can't do that!"

Thomas grabbed me by the arm and started dragging me to the exit, "Come on, we need to go!"

The upper half of the cube exploded into a thousand shards of icy shrapnel. Gorilla Grimm roared and began pounding its hands against its chest in triumphant. I yank my arm free of Thomas's grip and glared at the Grimm.

Thomas cursed, "Harry, what're you doing?!"

The Grimm was already working on freeing its legs, slamming its fists against the ice, sending cinder block sized chunks flying with each blow. It wouldn't be long before it freed itself and came after us, and it would probably chase us through Chicago if given the chance. No way in hell I was going to let that happen.

So I reached inside to touch the gift I'd been given by the Archangel Uriel several years ago. Soulfire, the Fires of Creation itself, was an incredibly powerful source of power, that could wipe me from existence if I wasn't careful in how I used it. I'd been more sparing in how I'd used it over the years, but for this purpose, it would work just fine.

Across my staff, over seventy runes blazed to life with fire. I had several rings I'd been working on that would basically store kinetic energy from moving my arm as I walked. They would pack a real wallop and save me time and energy. But until they were done, I'd used the next best thing. Seventy-Seven of the same rune carved over and over on my staff, stored all the kinetic energy from its movements. It was an ocean of energy, just waiting to be tapped into.

I did so with glee, and poured soulfire over the concoction. The Grimm had just finished shattering the last of the ice encasing it, when I unleashed my spell on it.

'Forzare!'

Silver force shot from my staff like a cannon ball, slamming into the Grimms chest at an angle. I saw the plates on its chest crack from the blow, and the Grimm went soaring across Club Zero's main floor towards the ceiling. It shattered one of those stalactites my spell had created, and crashed into the disco ball still hanging from the ceiling. They both hit the far wall with the force of a freight train, and something snapped.

The Gorilla Grimm's sheer mass shattered the glass ball and the Blackstone hidden inside erupted into violent red energy. The entire building shook, and I felt something rumble through the floor.

I grabbed my brother by the arm, "Okay, now we go," and booked it for the stairs.

"How'd you know about the Blackstone?" Thomas asked.

I grinned at him, "Lucky guess."

We reached the bottom as Club Zero was slowly consumed by fire. The rain had let up for the moment, and the guard had vanished, probably run off once guns started going off, but it didn't matter. Blackstone was destroyed, Zero was burning to the ground, and we'd learned something about the Grimm. Someone or something was leading them, and they'd decided to start unleashing the big guns.

I glanced back at the stairs as we left the building, and felt my blood go cold. The Grimm Gorillahad dragged itself to the top of the stairs, and glowered after us both. It was still alive and very pissed off. But... it didn't make any move to come after us. Instead, I watched as the beast simply… vanished.

It didn't evaporate like Grimm do when they die, it just faded from view. What in the hell?

"Thomas," I said, walking out the door, "Did you see that?"

Something hard and metal smashed against the side of my face, and I collapsed to the floor with stars in my eyes. The Mantle can only block so much pain, and I could feel my eye already beginning to swell shut from the blow. I rolled onto my back, wincing at the sharp jabs in my skull, and saw who had delivered the strike.

Roman Torchwick shoved a switchblade into the meaty underside of my thigh, severing my connection to the Winter Mantle with Cold Iron. A dozen fractures, bruises, and sprains suddenly made their presence known in a harsh cacophony of pain, and his brother agony. I let out a strangled gasp of surprise, and the gangster smirked at me.

"Surprised, Dresden?" He asked, and laughed, twirling an iron cane in one hand. "You shouldn't be. Honestly, you humiliate me like that and expected me not to come after me? You dumbass!"

He kicked me in the ribs, I think something cracked. I curled up instinctively around the injury, and Roman laughed again. "Not so tough now, without the redhead, are you? Your vampire buddy never even saw us coming."

Thomas.

I looked up from the floor the best I could and saw my brother being held by an oversized goon in a black suit with a red tie and sunglasses. His face was bruised and there was a knife to his throat. Beside them both, the guard lay on the floor, his skull a pulpy mess. My brother's Hummer was parked in front of the alleyway, blocking any chance of an immediate escape. Hells Bells, how had he found us?

"I bet you're wondering how I found you so easy?" Torchwick asked, grinning ear to ear. He grabbed me by the collar and effortlessly hoisted me through the air and flung me at his goons feet. There were another two with the giant holding my brother. Thomas glanced at me, but didn't make a move.

I followed his lead and looked at Torchwick, "Let me guess," I growled through clenched teeth. "You've got connections?"

"Bingo!" Torchwick snapped his fingers, "I've got little birdies all over town to tell me what I need, for a fee. And when one was talking about a string bean and his pet vampire puttering around alone, well how could I resist? So I waited for you to leave so you'd walk right into my trap, and you sprung it gloriously!"

He let out a gleeful little cackle and tapped his cane against the ground. I rolled my eyes and sighed, "Right, congratulations. Is this the part where you kill me?"

Torchwick shrugged, "Eh, I thought about it, but then I decided there were better ways to make you suffer. I've got half a dozen supernatural contacts who'd love for a chance to make you suffer."

I felt overcome with a familiar sense of deja vu, and looked up at my brother. He nodded faintly. He was feeling it too, his cousin tried to pull the same bullshit on me a couple years back, it hadn't ended well then either.

The click of his cane got my attention again, and I looked back at Torchwick. His face had grown more serious, "Now, I'd say it's just business, Dresden, but really, it's not. I can't get at Ms. Nikos, not yet. But you're another, slightly less irritating thorn in my side. Taking you down will make life a hell of a lot easier for everyone in this city. So with that said…"

He stabbed a finger at the big guy holding Thomas, "Throw them both in the trunk. And make sure to gag the wizard, his voice annoys me."

The mook passed my brother off to his partners in crime. My brother went along with them almost casually. I looked up at the giant of a man as he knelt down next to me. He had bright red hair cut in a military buzz, narrow little blue eyes, and neanderthal eyebrows.

Cujo Hendricks, Johnny Marcone's personal bodyguard, winked at me, and pulled the knife from my leg. Without missing a beat, he and the other two goons pulled pistols on Torchwick, and my brother crossed the distance between the two of them in the blink of an eye. Before he even knew what was happening, Roman Torchwick found himself pinned to the ground with three guns pointed at him, and one very pissed off wizard standing over him.

The look on his face was absolutely priceless.

"Mr. Torchwick," Hendricks growled, "Mr. Marcone would like a word with you."

* * *

 **A/N: This took longer than expected. Again with the bullcrap at school, I was kinda swamped for a bit. Plus, I had about a dozen different ways for this chapter to go. I'd almost considered dropping Torchwick entirely, however, he needed to pop up here for later plans.**

 **The fight scene itself was the easiest bit, as Harry's fights tend to be more of a serious of knockout blows as opposed to RWBY's frantic combat style. I enjoyed writing the Grimm as showing more intelligence, and there was some serious foreshadowing in that fight. To those concerned though, this'll be the last big fight scene for the next three or four chapters at least. Things are going to settle down now, and the plot itself is going to move forward. In the next chapter or two, Imma make you all freak the hell out.**

 **More character interactions are to come next chapter guys, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Don't forget to review with comments or constructive criticism!**


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

The Brighter Future Society, or as Harry called it, the Chicago Alliance Headquarters, had been built atop his old apartment by John Marcone. It was a building about four stories high and built of stone. Its windows were nine inches wide and deep, with bars of steel on the inside and outside. The roof was lined with crenellation and gargoyles perched along each row, starting on the second floor. The building was a modern day castle, a fortress in the middle of Chicago.

Pyrrha had never felt so at home. While the buildings in Beacon were made of a more modern material, those of her home at Mistral were more often made of stone. The threat of Grimm attacks made investing in better materials a waste of time and resources, when all they needed was in the land they lived on.

There was also the other added bonus of the Headquarters. It had several training rooms, and many men willing to spar with her. Murphy had informed her that those men were 'Warriors of Valhalla' or 'Einherjar', ancient warriors and soldiers who resurrected upon death to fight for all of eternity. Most of them were incredibly ancient, older than most of the modern nations on Earth and with enough combat experience to take on any army and come out on top.

So four on one was about fair odds, Pyrrha figured.

While the redhead turned Marcones most elite soldiers into pretzels, Murphy and the Alphas were gathered at the far wall, watching the fight. They had rendezvoused ten minutes earlier, and both had a Blackstone to show for their efforts, securely locked away in the back of William and Georgia's van. Surprisingly, they stones had been almost completely dormant when they found them, making their assignments a quick hit and run. It was only traditional then, that Harry was the tardy one.

So while they waited for the wizard, the small assembly of companions enjoyed the show and exchanged small talk while seated around the boxing ring.

"So, since Pyrrha's out of earshot," Andi said, "We are all aware her outfit is something a stripper might wear, right?"

"Oh yeah, totally."

"Completely inappropriate."

"Who would even come up with something like that?"

Murphy shrugged her shoulders and kept her eyes on the match. It was a bare fisted match, and at Pyrrha's own insistence, not the Einherjar's, she had left her boots neatly arranged at the base of the ring. With no aura, she didn't want to hurt anyone, despite the Warriors insistence that they'd be fine.

Truth was, even without them, the Einherjar didn't stand a chance. Murphy smiled as Pyrrha twisted around one of the warriors and kicked his legs out from under him so fast that he appeared to be moving still by comparison.

"I've seen worse." Murphy finally said.

The Alphas and Butters glanced at her and she smirked, "Ex-cop, remember? I've seen some wild outfits out there, on people a lot younger than her. Hell, Molly used to dress worse than that. And we all remember how Maeve dressed."

That was a fairly good point they could agree on. Butters nodded, "Right, it's not that out there, just impractical for combat gear."

"Especially with how her top opens up like a stage production of 'Cleavage: Presented by Pyrrha Nikos'." Andi added.

There was a yelp, and one of the Einherjar went soaring out of the ring and landed at the group's feet with a solid crash. They all froze and looked up at Pyrrha, who was smiling sweetly at them, "I'm sparring, my friends. Not deaf."

Another warrior snuck up behind her her. Pyrrha hit him with the back of her fist without even looking, knocking him flat on his back with the rest of his fallen bretheren.. The Alpha's and Butters had the decency to look embarrassed at being caught discussing the young woman.

"Time!" the spar referee announced. "Match goes to Pyrrha, 7-0!"

At that, the Warriors of Valhalla did something unexpected. They began to laugh, hearty belly laughs that filled the air with a giddy energy, laughs that only men of war could truly muster. The Einherjar peeled themselves off the floor and crowded around the young red head.

"This one, this one will grow into a fine warrior!" One of them declared, clapping Pyrrha on the back.

She was by no means a small or weak girl, but the Einherjar were men that tipped closer to seven feet tall and had skin stretched tight with muscle. She almost stumbled under the friendly gesture, but grinned with them.

"We'll have to use weapons another time, then I can show you what I can really do."

"Haha! That would be a show!" another warrior declared, "We look forward to it!"

"Yes!"

One of the Einherjar, a man whose ancestry probably contained a rhinoceros in it, was more serious. "You're very strong Ms. Pyrrha, I'll give you that much, and a natural prodigy. I've met very few warriors as naturally gifted to combat as you."

Pyrrha felt the heat in her cheeks rise, "Oh, well Skaldi, I-"

He raised a giant hand, "You didn't let me finish. You're a prodigy, and in a few years, you'll be one of the greatest living mortal warriors out there, especially with your abilities. But only if you learn to stop charging into every fight you find."

That made her blink, "Pardon?"

Skaldi thumped her head, "Think girl! Every warrior loves a good scrap, you're no different. But even the greatest warriors need to take a break. You keep pushing yourself, eventually you'll break, if you can't find a balance between fighting, and relaxing."

"Good advice, Skaldi Skjeldson," Murphy said, leaning on the ropes around the ring. "You going to lecture her on who she should start dating, and what she should wear?"

The Warriors of Valhalla snickered, and Skaldi smirked, "I believe you've covered that last one already, Karrin Murphy."

"Fair point. You done hazing my girl?"

"Oh ho ho," Skaldi laughed, "Your girl? I didn't realize we were fighting over her."

Murphy's eyes sparked with mischief, "I saw her first, get in line."

Pyrrha got between the two, visibly smiling, and said, "I believe we all have our own points. For example, a break would indeed be nice."

A smile spread over her lips, "Besides, I wouldn't want to bruise your pride any further, now would I?"

The Warriors of Valhalla burst into hearty laughter again, and began to disperse. Skaldi remained, giving Murphy a more critical look, "I've still got fight in me, girly. How about we go a round or two, see how that Physical Therapy has been working for you?"

Murphy's smile faded and she looked at her arm. She flexed it and her mouth set itself in a thin line, "I'll pass today. But thanks for the offer Skaldi."

"You can't put it off forever," he warned her, and walked off to cavort with his companions.

Pyrrha ducked under the ropes and gave Murphy a quizzical look, "Physical Therapy? What happened?"

She'd noticed that Murphy's left arm was a bit limp, and that she had a slight limp in her stride, but Murphy had handled herself fine otherwise. Pyrrha felt a little guilty that her own personal issues had made her blind to the obvious, and that Murphy had been fighting for her when she should've been taking time to recover.

Murphy sighed, "Bad situation that got worse. I paid for it, but don't worry about it, I'm fine."

"Murphy, if you're still recovering-" Pyrrha started, and slowly stopped when Murphy narrowed her eyes into a venomous glare.

"If you finish that sentence, Ms. Nikos, we'll throw down here and now. I can handle myself, got it?"

"...Yes ma'am."

Murphy smiled sweetly, "Good girl. Now put your shoes back on and we'll pick up some grub."

Pyrrha did as she was told, smiling the whole time. While she slipped her armored boots back on, a familiar woman entered the training room. Gard entered, all business. Her attire had not changed, though her expression was slightly less stone faced. This of course, would be akin to comparing a tiger to a lion. A slight but semantic difference.

"Heads up," William warned Murphy.

She looked over at Gard, and got up to meet the valkyrie, "Gard, didn't expect to see you here."

Gard grunted, "You're wanted in the infirmary. Dresden and the vampire have returned."

Pyrrha stood up, "Infirmary? Is Harry alright?"

The others chuckled and she looked at them confused, "What?"

"He's probably fine," Murphy explained. "It's just, you spend enough time around us, you'll eventually see that this is the norm for Harry. If he doesn't get himself beaten half-to-hell while investigating a case, then something's gone horribly wrong."

That made Pyrrha frown. They seemed awfully casual about Harry being injured. Of course, it made sense. The people in this world had no Aura, any combat would be likely to result in injuries of some kind. That was an idea that chilled Pyrrha to the core. Aura was a fundamental part of her world, and on Earth it just… wasn't. It was so odd and almost felt wrong…

"You're sure he's okay?" Pyrrha asked.

Murphy sighed, "Well, we'll see what the dunderhead did to himself this time. But odds are, yeah, he's fine. Come on."

Butters grabbed the bag holding the Blackstones, and their group marched out of the gym to the infirmary. It wasn't the longest walk, but it gave Pyrrha time to notice the slight limp in Murphy's step. Had she always limped like that and Pyrrha had just been too caught up in her own issues? Or was it a more recent development, a result of the hectic atmosphere of the past day or two?

Pyrrha felt a pang of guilt at that. It was very possible that her rampage, brought on by Roman's little glamour spell, might've been what injured Murphy. The woman was putting on a brave face around Pyrrha, but the irritation was obvious now. If Murphy stepped wrong, she winced for a fraction of a second, and the limp became more pronounced. But she kept ahead of them all anyway, despite it.

That was impressive for the sheer determination, and equally as frustrating. Pyrrha walked up next to her and said, voice quiet, "Murphy, you don't have to push yourself that hard around us. We'd understand if you needed to slow down."

Murphy kept walking, and didn't look at Pyrrha when she spoke, "I could say the same to you, Pyrrha. Tell you what, I'll slow down if you're willing to sit down and have a nice long chat about how that whole Fall Maiden business has been eating at the back of your skull since you found out about it."

The pit returned to her stomach. Pyrrha swallowed and let out a shaky breath, "I… understand your point, Murphy. Sorry."

Murphy grunted and the rest of the walk was silent, and mercifully short. They reached the infirmary where Thomas and Harry were held up. It was surprisingly sparse, with no electronic equipment in sight. Pyrrha saw shelves and cupboards that probably held medical supplies, but no real tech of any kind. How far behind was Earth compared to Remnant?

Harry was seated on an exam table, one leg up and the pant leg cut away. A medical professional, Pyrrha wasn't sure if Marcone would employ legal doctors, tended to what appeared to be a shallow stab wound on his thigh. Thomas was seated nearby, seemingly unharmed.

"Your companions, Dresden," Gard grunted.

Harry looked up at them, and Pyrrha held back a gasp, "Oh my… Harry, what happened to you?"

To say that Harry looked like shit, was an insult to shit. His face was a rainbow of colors splashed over a beaten and torn canvas. His left eye was swollen shut and several stitches lined the socket. He looked like someone had beaten him over the head with a baseball bat.

Harry grunted, "Nice to see you again too, Pyrrha." he looked down, "How much longer you gonna work on me, doc?"

The 'doctor' stood up and glared at Harry, "As much as I need to. I'd suggest a day or two of bed rest, but Marcone has informed me of your 'habits'. So I'll simply warn you not to strain your leg, and to take the antibiotics I've prescribed you."

Harry nodded, "Noted. Thanks."

The man just grunted and walked off. Gard escorted him out of the room and waited by the exit, arms folded, face unreadable. Once the doctor was gone, Harry's face grew more serious.

"Pyrrha, we ran into some new Grimm. You're the expert, I need you to ID them for me."

The girl was already looking through her Scroll before Harry had finished his sentence, "On it, what did you see?"

"Bigger, tougher, and smarter versions of the wolves we fought at UC, and one big bastard with a mean left hook."

"Looked like a giant armored gorilla" Thomas piped in.

Pyrrha froze and looked up at Harry, her eyes wide, "That… shouldn't be possible."

"Oh no, she said the words…" Butters groaned.

Harry leaned forward, "Pyrrha, what did we run into?"

Instead of telling him, Pyrrha showed them. Her scroll projected a rough image on the wall, a sketch of a large bipedal Grimm. Its arms hung close to the floor and its legs were short and powerful. The sketch accurately captured the menace and and danger that this creature projected.

Everyone stared at the picture. Harry nodded, "Yeah, that's we ran into alright. No fancy light show for this one?"

Pyrrha folded her Scroll away, and said, "No. Harry, what you ran into is called a Beringel. And the last one was seen over half-a-century ago. Far as anyone knew, they had died out, wiped out by the Brothers Grimm, along with the Geists and Manticores. Though there have been sightings of the former again…"

"Pyrrha, hold on," Harry signed for time-out, "What are you talking about? We don't have any context here."

"Right, I'm sorry." Pyrrha apologized and took a breath. "The Beringel are very powerful Grimm. They are, in general, smarter, stronger, and faster than the average Grimm. Whenever they appeared, according to history books, a single Beringel in the right place could wipe out an entire town on its own. The fact that you survived, let alone defeat one is...incredible."

Harry scratched at the back of his head. Murphy eyed him, "You did kill it, right Harry?"

"Er...technically? It's not around anymore at least."

Pyrrha almost dropped her phone, "What happened? Where is it?"

"Vanished, after I destroyed the Blackstone." Harry said. "I watched it literally fade away afterwards. So it's not an issue anymore."

Despite herself, Pyrrha let out a sigh of relief, "Well good then. I'd hate to imagine how much unnecessary damage a fight with that would cause."

Murphy glanced at Harry. He stuck his tongue out at her in response.

"So, question," William said. "If we have to fight these things again, how would we do that? Or would it be better to try and call in these 'Brothers Grimm' guys?"

Pyrrha shook her head, "The latter would be pointless. The Brothers Grimm disbanded decades ago. They weren't built to survive the world after the Great War. As for how to fight one… I seem to recall that fire tends to anger them, and that the only real way to put one down is to remove its head. I'd need to see one in action before I could develop a real strategy."

"I shot it in the head a couple times," Thomas said. "Just made it angrier."

"No offense, but it would take more than a pistol to seriously injure a Grimm that powerful." Pyrrha sighed, "I imagine my friend Ruby would make short work of one of those monsters…"

The girl may not be the most skilled of Pyrrha's friends, but her weapon and fighting style would probably be quite effective against a Beringel, especially the built in sniper rifle. Until she found a way to contact her friends though, that was just a pipe dream.

Harry eased himself down from the table, testing his leg. Satisfied, he settled his weight on it and grabbed his staff, "We're on our own until then though. How'd your own investigations go? Find anything?"

Butters held up the duffel bag, "Found something at both locations. No sign of Grimm though."

Harry frowned as Butters handed him the bag, "That's typical. Guess I'll keep these locked up with the other one for now. Once my informant shows up, we'll have an idea of what our next move should be. That just leaves one more problem…"

"You traitorous bag of dicks!"

Everyone stopped, and swiveled towards the infirmary door, where a familiar voice was cursing up a storm. Hendricks walked into view, with an escort of three armed men pushing an asylum dolly down the hall. Roman Torchwick was strapped to it with large steel bindings that he strained against with all of his might. A piece of duct tape had been slapped over his mouth, but he'd chewed a hole through it, that he was now using to hurl obscenities at Hendricks.

"...When did Hendricks find Torchwick?" Murphy asked. Gard visibly stiffened and cast a quick glance out the door. When she turned back around, there was a faint upturn at the edge of her lips.

Harry sighed and tried not to touch the bruises on his face, "Torchwick ambushed us outside of Zero, that's where I got this lovely mosaic from. He nailed me with his cane, and stabbed my leg. Then he was going to sell me on Ebay. Marcone, apparently, had Hendricks working for Torchwick to keep an eye on him. Now they're going to lock him up until Marcone decides to get whatever information he wants out of him."

"...Didn't someone already try to sell you on Ebay?" Butters asked.

He never got his answer. Pyrrha suddenly stormed forward out of the room before Harry could provide one. Every piece of metal in the room swayed in her direction, and lights flickered. Murphy cursed, and ran after Pyrrha with the others in tow. This was not the time for angry vengeance!

Pyrrha quickly caught up to the dolly and planted herself in front of them. They stopped, and Hendricks looked at Pyrrha blankly. She smiled a not so sweet smile and said, "I'd just like a moment to talk to Mr. Torchwick, if it's not too much trouble."

Hendricks beady blue eyes gave Pyrrha the once over, taking in her… unique, fashion sense, and apparently deemed her worthy. He shrugged and motioned at the rest of the escort. Their weapons lowered; Pyrrha hadn't even seen them lift them.

She nodded her thanks, and focused on Roman. To his credit, he didn't look absolutely terrified. He simply wore a resigned expression and sighed, "Oh poop."

Pyrrha took a step forward and spoke in a calm, even tone, "Mr. Torchwick. I hope you're aware of what you did last time we met."

"Glamour charm, meant to trick you into ignoring me." Roman said, deadpan. "Useful, gotten me out of a few tight situations before. Expensive as hell though."

Her mouth set into a line, and she took a deep breath, "You tricked me into attacking my friends. Made me see things that...infuriate me, just thinking about it. You hurt me, and more importantly, you made me hurt my friends."

She pressed a finger on one of the bindings. It visibly bent under her touch. "And now you've hurt them again. I don't believe what you say, about me being a murderer, but do this again, Mr. Torchwick, and, well…"

With no effort, she lifted him and the dolly by the lock on his chest with one hand, "I'll seriously consider in justifying your accusations. Do we understand each other?"

Roman's face was exceptionally pale when he nodded yes. Pyrrha smiled and set him back down with an audible thud. Her Semblance had held the entire dolly together, but the device was slightly uneven now. It leaned precariously to one side, much to Roman's dismay.

Pyrrha left Hendricks and his men to handle Torchwick, her stride faltering for but a moment before her confidence seemed to return, while her smile faded. She intercepted a dumbfounded Team Dresden a moment later. The looks on their faces were… enlightening.

She let out a shaky breath and ducked her head, "When is that informant meeting with us again?"

* * *

 **A/N: Ultimately a shorter chapter than I was planning. However, given my plans for the next chapter, it would've dragged for too long if I'd gone through with it. Next one should be a bit longer, with more plot stuff happening. Also, Toot-toot is coming... and maybe, just maybe, a certain, perverted skull?**

 **Anyway, I'm not sure when the next post will be. Probably next Saturday, as I've got studying/college stuff to do, you know 'fun' stuff. Once that's out of the way, I'll really dive back in again. Otherwise, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, lemme know what you thought! Bye!**


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

They waited for Harry's informant on the front steps of the building. Night had fallen, and the weather remained consistent for the moment. The clouds hid the night sky, but even if it had been a clear night, the lights of the city would've hidden the stars. Pyrrha sat on the top of the steps behind everyone else.

No one had said anything, but she knew that her show of aggression had surprised them. It had surprised herself, even. Pyrrha was far from perfect and had met people she disliked. But threatening someone who had yet to actually attack her was something she just didn't normally do. Torchwick had attacked her friends though, and had managed to hurt them, and while Pyrrha was loathe to admit it, she still resented him for manipulating her like he had. It had spilled out, and she hated that.

"I'm sorry if I overstepped a line," Pyrrha said, breaking the silence.

The Alphas exchanged looks, while Harry and Murphy glanced at Pyrrha. Murphy was wearing a small smile, "You didn't cross a line Pyrrha. We just didn't know you had it in you."

Pyrrha looked at her hands, "I was… angry, because of what he's done, I guess. I wanted him to understand that. I guess I did."

"He messed with your mind and made you act out," Harry shrugged. "You had every right to be angry, and you only threatened him. Next time though, just talk to us, okay? Bottling things up just makes the eventual explosion that much worse."

The withering glare that Murphy and Thomas sent at Harry could have incinerated him if she had a lick of magic. He looked at her confused, "What? What did I say?"

Murphy scowled and looked back at the street without saying anything. Georgia and Will chuckled at Harry's expression. Pyrrha smiled at the exchange, and felt the weight on her shoulders lighten, if only a little.

She glanced down the street and frowned, "Harry, when is your informant getting here? And what is he, anyway?"

One thing Pyrrha had quickly learned from her time with Dresden was that his allies weren't just limited to humans. Asking in advance would at least keep her from being completely blind sided when the informant arrived, which would be a welcomed change of pace.

Harry grinned and folded his arms behind his head, "You'll see when he gets here."

Pyrrha frowned, "You enjoy giving cryptic answers, don't you?"

"He does."

"Yep."

"It's annoying as hell."

"You get used to it."

Harry put a hand on his chest, miming injury, "Guys, that hurts me, really."

"Good," Murphy said. The others murmured in agreement.

Ouch.

Harry sighed and pinched his nose, "Fair enough. My informant is a Wild Fae. Remember Lea, my godmother? He's like her, but much less dangerous."

Pyrrha's eye twitched, "I… see. Will we have a repeat of last time?"

"No, Toot-toot isn't anywhere near Lea's level, and he works for me. He's also about eighteen inches tall."

"Actually, I'm eighteen and a half now, my lord!" A tiny voice piped.

Pyrrha stared at the tiny Fae that had dropped from the sky into the middle of their group. Even if he hadn't conveniently shown up at the end of Harry's explanation, Pyrrha honestly didn't know if she'd be prepared for… Well, anything about him.

Toot-toot almost had the look of a huntsman. Proud, strong, and well armed with the wild hair to match. But like he said, he was barely two feet tall, and had tiny dragonfly wings on his back. The fact that he sounded more like a little kid pretending to be a kid didn't help the image. It was such a clashing theme that all Pyrrha could do was stare at the tiny man.

Harry smiled and said, "Right, sorry Major General. Report?"

Toot-toot slapped a salute and stood straight, "The Za-lords guard has been dispersed to every site on the map, my liege. They should be bringing it right about now."

Sure enough, a map descended from the sky, surrounded by a dozen tiny candlelights. They were actually more faeries, smaller than Toot, six inches at the largest. They too had their own fancy suits of armor, emblazoned with the pizza crest on their chest, just like Toot. The tiny escort stopped right in front of Harry and unfolded the map. He took it from them and the Fae dispersed into the night.

Harry eyed the map and said, "Good job Toot. I take it the black marks had stones at them?"

"You take it correctly, my liege!" Toot said.

Nodding, Harry carefully folded the map up, and stood to his feet, "Very well Major General, you've done well this day. Keep up the good work and I'll be sure to up your payment."

Toot-toot's wings fluttered and he bounced on his heels, "You are too kind my liege! Is there anything else you require of me?!"

"For the moment, no. But I want the Za-lords Guard on standby. I might have something for you guys later. Until then though, you're dismissed."

"As you wish, my lord!" Toot-toot sprang into the air and vanished in a flash of brilliant light. The steps grew quiet again, darker without his presence. Harry slipped the map into his coat and straightened it.

Pyrrha finally found her voice and said, "That… was a tiny man...with wings. Harry, you live in a very strange world."

"Pot, kettle," he replied, before looking at the Alphas and Butters, "You guys take separate cars, or ride in together?"

"We took the van. You think we're done for the night?"

Harry looked skyward, "Yeah, for now. My head feels like its under twenty-four hour demolition, and while we know where the next few Blackstone's are. I'm going to drop the map off with Marcones people, and I'll make a copy for Lara."

He nodded at Thomas, "Can you drop it off for me?"

"I'll fax it."

With that settled, Harry took one moment to look at Butters and added, "I know you've still got Bob on you Butters. Let him take a look at those stones. Maybe he'll pick up a detail that Bonnie missed."

He left after that, leaving everyone else with Butters. The little man lead them to the van and opened the door. Pyrrha had to wonder who this 'Bob' was and how he would know more than Bonnie had. According to Harry, Bonnie was a spirit of intellect born from the minds of two very knowledgeable people. Who was this person that could know more than her? More than likely, another spirit of intellect.

Everyone crowded around as Butters carefully removed the Blackstones from the duffel bag and set them on the floor of the van. Once in place, he reached into his backpack and retrieved a familiar item. When Pyrrha had first awoken in Harry's apartment, she had seen a bleached human skull on the table. Butters had taken it with him when he left, and its presence had slipped her mind, until now.

Carefully, Butters set the skull down facing the two Blackstones, and snapped his fingers, "Bob, you still awake?"

Two orange flames flicked to life in the skulls eye sockets, and it yawned, "Yeah, I'm up Boss. Whatcha need me for?"

Before Butters could utter a single word, the skulls eyelights fell on Pyrrha and promptly doubled in size. Bob let out an ecstatic giggle, "Oooh! Oh my, it's the red head! Leather corset, Zettai Ryouiki, high heels! Oh boss, you dog you, did you bang her? I bet you did!"

Pyrrha wasn't entirely sure what happened next, the blood rushing to her face muted every other sound around her. She was sure of one thing. Once she got over her shock, she was going to punt that skull across Chicago.

Butters sighed and grumbled, "Bob, now really isn't the time for this. I've got important business for you."

"Business before pleasure? Bah, whoever came up with that phrase clearly lived a very dull life," Bob sighed, "Or had simply never appreciated the majesty of the female form."

"Bob," Butters warned.

The skull clicked his teeth together, "Right, right. What've you got for me today, boss?"

Relieved, Butters rapped the the Blackstones with his gloved knuckles. Bob sighed, "So you trade me melons for stones? You're killing me boss!"

"If you keep it up," Murphy warned, "He's not going to be the only one."

Bob took one look at Murphy and let out a nervous chuckle, "Ehehe, right… Well then, I'd best to get to work, shouldn't I?"

"Yeah. Good idea."

Pyrrha walked away from the van and rubbed her temples, "Why can't anything make sense on this planet?" she muttered.

While the girl contemplated the journey of her life and how it had lead to her being ogled by a talking human skull, Bobs eyelights lit up. Unlike Bonnie, he didn't exit the skull to exam the stones. Several moments of seemingly looking at them was all he needed. When he found what he looked for, his eye lights flickered and shrunk to pinpoints.

"Oh dear, that's not good."

"What's not good?" William asked, his voice nervous. If Bob ever said something wasn't good, that meant it was _really_ not good.

Bob clacked his teeth together a few times, "Hmm, how do I explain this… Well there's two details on these stones I can figure. First, the language is old. Really, really old. Like, beginning of human civilization old. I haven't the faintest idea what is written on these things. However, I do know it's connected to the second detail."

"Which is?"

The skull glanced around at everyone gathered and said, "Remember the island? The hellish supernatural prison for gods and demons that Harry turned into a summer home?"

Pyrrha looked back at the group, "Wait, what?"

"Long story," Murphy said, dismissively, and said to Bob, "Yeah, we remember. What about it?"

"Well, when Harry brought me to the island, I… well frankly, I couldn't understand a bloody thing about it. When Merlin built that place, he managed to do it in such a way that, well, your puny mortal minds simply can't comprehend it. I'm talking magic in fourth and fifth dimensions here. And these stones? They are just like that, except, get this. The black part? Thats where the complicated stuff is, and it was _grown_ into that shape."

"...Grown? You mean, it's alive?"

"Hardly. But someone was able to create these stones from the ground up. This wasn't made by some wannabe warlock overlord, whoever made these has magical understanding equal or greater to Merlin himself. Fae Lords level of control. The red stuff was just added later."

"Well that explains why they're so damn volatile," Harry said.

Everyone yelled in surprise and whirled toward the wizard, weapons raised. Harry chuckled at them with his hands raised in surrender. Pyrrha was the first to realize what he had done, and lowered her weapons.

"Again Harry? Really!?"

Still snickering, Harry said, "Well, you were all getting serious, so I decided to break the tension with my usual level of charisma and subtlety."

Murphy rubbed at her nose and leaned against the van, "I swear to God, Dresden, next time you do that, I will plant you in the ground."

"Dinner first." Harry replied, and let the smile fade from his face.

"Back on topic though, you're saying these things are...what, miniature versions of Demonreach?"

Bob rolled his eyes, which was really distracting considering they were made of fire. "That's an incredible oversimplification of what is a remarkable and complex piece of magical skill at work, but yes. These things are essentially mini-Demonreachs, only repurposed to tear a hole in dimension instead, if what Butters has told me is true."

"Which it is," Butters replied.

It was an interesting fact for sure, however…

"What does this tell us though?" Pyrrha asked. "I don't really understand how magic works all that well. I get that these things are complex, but…"

Bob sighed, "What it means, is that whoever has been sending those Grimm here, has enough power and skill to rival a god. Which, if you're only redeeming feature is that glorious trench run you call a cleavage, is bad. Obviously."

Under other circumstances, Pyrrha would've glared at Bob for the comment. However, she was more focused on the more pressing matters. "Got it. Is there anything we could do to deal with them?"

"Whoa whoa," Harry interrupted, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves Pyrrha. Our main focus for now is keeping the stones in itty bitty pieces, or contained. Once we've got the Grimm situation under control, _then_ we can discuss future god-slaying activities."

That was a fair point. Trying to overstretch their goals this early would be impractical. Until they had a better idea on who their enemy was, there was no point in formulating a plan to take them down. Restricting the spread of Grimm would be in their best interest until then.

Pyrrha clapped her hands together, "Okay then, so which site are we going to investigate next then?"

Butters looked at Murphy. Murphy looked at Thomas. Thomas looked at Harry, and Harry used his good eye to look at the Alphas. Andi had fallen asleep in the back of the van, and William let out a long yawn that spread to everyone else, except for Pyrrha, who seemed to be radiating youthful energy.

"Pyrrha, I think I speak for all of us when I say that the investigations are over for tonight." Harry said.

She blinked, "What? But Harry, we _know_ where the Grimm are coming from, and you've said we can't learn anything from the stones anymore. We could stop them now if we jump on it."

Harry shook his head, "Pyrrha, do I look like I'm in any fighting shape? Do any of us look ready to head to a dozen different, possibly Grimm infested, locations, and have a repeat of UC?"

Pyrrha took a long look at her companions. While they were awake and alert, there was a sluggish quality to their movements, as if moving through syrup. The Alphas in particular seemed exhausted, and even Thomas looked worn out. She felt her heart sink.

"I understand. But we will continue what we started tomorrow, correct?"

Harry put a hand on her shoulder in a gesture of comfort, "A good night's sleep will put everyone in the right frame of mind for it. Until then, Marcone and his people are going to try and keep this all hush-hush until we deal with it. Okay?"

Despite her disappointment and worry, Pyrrha nodded, "Yes I understand. You'll be returning home with Murphy and I then?"

Harry stretched, "I'll meet you guys at the apartment, yeah. Gonna make a quick stop on the way home."

"Macs?" Murphy asked.

"Macs."

Pyrrha looked between them and sighed, "Again, context. Please. Where is Macs?"

* * *

McAnally's Pub was exactly what it sounded like. A pub and grill owned by one "Mac" McAnally that catered to the many supernatural folk of Chicago, be they human, vampire, fae, or even the odd troll. It was tucked away in one of those basement locations in downtown Chicago, indicated by faded green sign hanging over the door with its namesake written in elaborate font. A couple years back when the war between the White Council and Red Courts was beginning to heat up, someone placed Mac's Pub on a list of neutral territories protected by the Unseelie Accords, the supernatural equivalent of the Geneva Convention. It made it a safe haven for all kinds of supernatural folk during times of crisis.

It also served really, really good beer. Which, after all Harry had been through that day, was something he desperately was in need of. Murphy and Pyrrha were waiting for him back at the apartment, so he couldn't stick around long. But even a few minutes without the stress would be a welcome relief.

After parking the Beetle nearby, Harry entered Mac's. It was a low-ceilinged room, for Harry anyway, with the added benefit of several whirling ceiling fans at his eye level, just as he came in the door.

Mac's place was really just one big room. Thirteen thick wooden support pillars were spread throughout the room, each carved with figures from Old World nursery tales. There was a bar with thirteen stools, thirteen tables spread irregularly throughout the room, and the place as a whole had an informal and comfortable asymmetrical feel to it.

It was also full to bursting.

Harry took a step back in surprise at the sheer number of people crowded in Mac's bar. Magically gifted young, old, and everything in between seemed to have crammed themselves into Mac's bar. And despite every table being filled, the room was unnervingly quiet.

Granted, it was impossible for a room that full to ever be completely silent, but the volume was lower than it should've been. A few of the younger patrons cast worried glances at the door when it opened, and seeing Harry standing there made them quickly look back at their own tables.

Harry still had his staff and shield bracelet with him, but he wasn't projecting an aura of 'I'm here to kick ass and chew gum'. Indeed, given the purple mash that was his face, he doubted he could ever pull that off in the next few days. No, the people in Mac's bar had gathered for the same reason they always did. They felt the tension in the air. Chicago was holding its breath for something big, and the less powerful magical users had gathered together for safety. There was strength in numbers, after all.

Harry crossed the room to the bar where Mac nodded at him. Mac was a lean man somewhere between thirty and fifty. He wore the usual dark clothes and a spotless white apron while simultaneously managing all the bartending and a big wood-burning grill where he cooked various dishes for his patrons. The air of tension hadn't gotten to him, and he worked as diligently as ever.

Mac took one look at Harry's face, and held up a finger for him to wait. Harry sat down on a stool and did as Mac grabbed two beers from behind the counter. Mac didn't believe in cooling beer, and that personal belief had created what Harry could only consider an ambrosia of the gods.

He gave one to Harry, and quietly set the second one down in front of the woman seated next to him. Her ebony hair was cut short, she wore a burgundy leather coat, and her face was buried in her arms at the moment.

"Business?" Mac grunted, pointing at Harry's face.

Harry shrugged, "Personal grudge related to business. I've had a long day Mac."

Mac looked around the room at the assembled patrons and grunted. Harry conceded his point, "I suppose everyone's had one. You watch the news lately?"

The bartender sent Harry an unamused look and returned to his grill. With this many people in his bar, Harry had a feeling Mac had been busy all day. Even if a television could work in proximity to so many gifted people, he'd never have a chance to pay it any attention.

"Right, sorry." Harry apologized, and grabbed his bottle. He popped the cap off with a flick of his wrist, and took a sip.

All the troubles of the day seemed to vanish, if only for a brief instant. That instant was completely worth the trip though. Sometimes it was nice to not feel like complete shit.

The woman besides Harry stirred and sat up. She grabbed her bottle and repeated Harry's gesture, then proceeded to chug the entire thing. Harry watched in amazement as she downed it in seconds, then set the now empty bottle down with a hollow tap.

Her face was visible now, and Harry was surprised, and angry at what he saw. At one point, it might have been a beautiful young face, but someone had taken a knife to that face. Two ugly scars cut perpendicular across the left side of her face, where a heavy eyepatch hid the rest of the mess and her left eye. The right side of her face and eye were relatively unharmed, hinting at the beauty that had once been. Her eye was a subtle amber shade, and bloodshot; she'd been crying earlier.

' _Damn it Harry, you know better, don't get involved.'_ he thought to himself. When it came to members of the fairer sex, Harry could be called at best, a chivalric pervert. He simply could not help himself if he saw a woman in danger, he had to help. If they happened to be attractive, then he would be even more likely to get involved. It was a stupid, stupid way of thinking, and he had worked on it over the years. It would be best to just leave this poor woman alone and focus on his drink.

She noticed his look, and bowed her head in shame.

' _Oh... God damn it.'_

He sighed aloud and said, "Sorry miss, didn't mean to stare. It's just… what happened? Who did that to you?"

The woman's face fell and she reached up to touch her collar. She pulled it back to reveal heavy scars covering most of her throat, twisted and knotted flesh that had looked like someone had taken a blowtorch to her neck.

Harry grimace, "I see. Sorry, I'll just leave you alone."

He turned to move, when the woman touched the top of his hand with hers. He felt the faint tingle of power between them, and the softness of her fingers. Cursing himself, Harry turned back to the woman. She pushed a small pad of paper forward.

Scribbled on it were the words, ' _Are you Harry Dresden?'_

He blinked and looked up at her, "If I was, why're you looking for him?"

She wrote another sentence below the first. ' _He has a reputation for stopping problems. I need his help with who did this to me.'_

Harry eyed the paper and looked back up at her, "Who did this to you?"

' _A dangerous woman. I think she's related to these attacks.'_

"Heard about those huh?"

' _It was on the news.'_

Right. The woman had some level of talent, but nowhere near the level of a high level council wizard. She could probably use electronics without worry. But what was more intriguing was her claim that whoever had left her like this, could be related to the Grimm attacks. It could be a new lead.

Harry glanced up at the clock. It was a quarter to midnight, everyone was getting ready for sleep. Harry was certainly no slouch on his own, but he was no spring chicken.

"Can you wait until tomorrow? It's late, and I'm obviously not in the best of shape."

The woman scrunched up her face, but nodded. Harry smiled, "Good. Here, if something comes up, call this number."

He scribbled his phone number on the pad and passed it to her. "I should pick up, and we can look into this together. Just tap out morse code or something, I'll figure it's you."

Harry gave her a friendly, and gentle pat on the back, "Sound good?"

She nodded again, smiling faintly.

"Great!" Harry took a swig from his bottle then added, "If you'll forgive me, you never gave me your name."

The woman looked at Harry for a moment, then set the pad of paper down and straightened up. Despite her injuries, she had a very strong figure and near perfect posture. She rubbed at the burns on her throat and took a deep breath.

When she spoke, it came out a halting, raspy growl, crushed under a mountain of pain. The effort clearly caused her no end of pain, and she only barely managed a whisper.

"Ci...nder… Cinder."

* * *

 **A/N: Hehehe, oh this is gonna be good guys. We've reached the tipping point. The dominos are in place, the pieces all arranged.**

 **Now its time to watch them all fall.**


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Harry arrived at the apartment later that night. The young woman, Cinder, had kept to herself after giving Harry her name, and made no fuss when he finished his drink and left. Mac had given him an extra bottle, specifically for Murphy. How the bartender knew she was waiting for him at home, Harry decided was better off not knowing.

The complex was drowned in silence, the only sound the tap of Harry's staff on the floor. When he reached his door, he made a great effort to open it as quiet as he could. He was immediately greeted with a body check from Mister, who immediately began to demand attention from Harry.

"I know, I know. Gone all day," Harry whispered, and reached down to scratch behind his ears.

Mister let him for a moment, before deciding his time was best spent elsewhere, and padded off into the apartment.

"Yeah, good to see you to," Harry straightened up and shut the door behind him with a soft click.

"Enjoy yourself at Mac's?"

Harry looked up from Mister and saw Murphy seated in front of the fireplace. She'd swapped her jeans and shirt for one of Harry's plain shirts. On her diminutive stature, it might as well have been a full sized nightgown. She had a cup of warm tea in her hands and had lit a small fire up in the fireplace. On the table in front of her, Bonnie's skull was placed in front of an open comic book, her green eyelights scanning the pages with childish glee.

After setting his staff against the wall, Harry smiled at her and walked over, "A few minutes to myself is always nice. Also, courtesy of Mac."

He handed her the bottle, and Murphy smiled, "I'll save that for later."

She set it on the table and Harry flopped onto the couch next to her, and wrapped one arm around her shoulders. Murphy didn't say anything, she just leaned against him. Harry smiled and said, "So, what're my two favorite girls doing up so late?"

"Shhh!" Bonnie said. "Wonder Woman's trying to be sneaky, don't give away her position."

Bonnie and Bob were both spirits of intellect, beings formed from the minds of humans. Harry had long suspected that Bob had difficulty telling reality from fiction as a result. But if he had a hard time making out the fourth wall, Bonnie was completely unaware of it. And it was utterly adorable every time she broke it.

"Oh, sorry, I'll be quiet," Harry said in a much quieter tone.

The page turned seemingly of its own accord, and Bonnie's eyes widened, "No! No! Diana, look behind you!"

Harry hid his smile and looked down at Murphy, "You didn't answer my question though."

Murphy shrugged, "Pyrrha and I got home about forty-five minutes ago. I had to convince her to go to bed, but she listened eventually. Last I checked, she was out like a light."

"She's a stubborn one. Seems awfully familiar."

"Watch it Dresden," Murphy growled playfully.

"Yes ma'am." Harry chuckled and sighed. Silence washed over the three of them, with only Bonnie making little noises of worry as she continued to read.

It was moments like these, a moment alone with the people he loved where they could just _be,_ that he fought for. All the insanity, the buildings knocked over, the monsters slayed, and everything in between, it was an incredibly important job and Harry could never turn his back on it. But it had been having a home and friends to come back to that kept him who he was. Through machinations of fallen angels, to the cold temptations of the Winter Knights Mantle, Harry had only survived as long as he had because the friends and allies he had made were there to drag him back, kicking and screaming sometime.

And for a moment like this, with Murphy at his side in front of a flickering fireplace, he wouldn't trade for the world.

Alas though, business would always come before pleasure. Harry let out a breath and said, "So, while I was at Mac's, I met a girl."

Murphy tensed and her eyes flicked up at him. He shook his head, "Not like that. She was pretty beaten, and was looking for me. Said she might have a lead related to the attacks.

He watched as Murphy's faced instantly morphed into an expression of exhausted exasperation, "God damn it Dresden. How many times are you going to fall for the helpless damsel routine?"

"Hopefully? None."

With his free hand, Harry reached into one of his duster's pockets and revealed several ebony hairs. "She didn't notice when I plucked a few of these. If she doesn't call the number I gave her by tomorrow morning, then I'll whip up a tracking spell and we can find her and get some answers."

A devious grin split Murphy's face, "Harry Dresden, you sneaky bastard."

"You know you love it." Harry replied, carefully replacing the hairs in his pocket, "We'll explain everything to Pyrrha in the morning. But for now, let's just enjoy the peace, and get some rest."

"Now that, is the best idea you've had all day."

* * *

In hindsight, Pyrrha would wish she had been more stubborn in resisting Murphy's orders to head to bed. A good night's sleep was nice, but the last thing Pyrrha wanted was to be left alone with her thoughts. Keeping busy had been good for her, kept her mind off of her home and her friends, and anything revolving around the Maidens. Going to sleep would leave her alone to confront those worries yet again, and so she had resisted until Murphy had put her foot down so hard that Pyrrha had caved.

It turned out that her worries about being left alone with her thoughts were unfounded though, as she drifted into a listless sleep the moment her head hit the pillow. A dream came to her almost immediately.

A fever dream to be specific, noisy, bright, and indecipherable. A lot of the details were hard to keep up with; as soon as Pyrrha felt herself starting to focus on something, everything changed, and as soon as she found the direction again, it would pull a U-turn and leave her in the dust, struggling to keep up while the ground itself seemed to grab and hold her in place. The entire trip though, she was aware of voices in the background, all speaking in different tones and words, asking and answering questions before she could even register them.

It was after a subjective eternity of this, that Pyrrha found herself waking up in the dorm from Beacon Academy. She sat straight up in her bed and looked around to see that the room was empty. Their beds were still neatly arranged, but there was no sign of her team. This was only one of the strange things she noticed though. Everything around her had a fuzzy look to it, like an impressionist painting. The overall shape was there and clear from a distance, but when Pyrrha looked closer at any item laying around her, it lost its edge.

"I'm still in a dream." she murmured, and stood up from her bed. A look at herself showed that she had a more defined outline, when compared to the rest of the dream world around her. How odd.

She snapped her fingers, "I must be having a lucid dream."

She'd read about those once, it was a condition where someone became aware of their dream and consciously interacted with it. Pyrrha had never experienced one before, but the odd texture and her lack of exhaustion suggested that this was indeed a lucid dream.

Before she could explore that idea further though, there was a loud clang of metal, followed by an irritated curse. Pyrrha's head whipped towards the door, and she suddenly felt the handle of her sword and shield fill her grip. The familiar weight was a comfort, and further proved her suspicions right.

Another clang, another curse.

Pyrrha approached the door carefully, watching her step as she approached the door. By the time she was standing before it, the edge of its outline had faded into a mushy splotch, and its handle was a dab of golden pate smudged in place. Pyrrha sighed and transferred Milo to her left hand, then reached out for the doorknob. It still felt as solid as she expected it to, and clicked as she slowly turned it to the right.

The door swung open and Pyrrha's heart stopped.

It had opened onto a rooftop, one of the maintenance roofs on the dorms. There was a low concrete wall around it and several small vents. The CCT tower rose high in the distance, towering over the rest of the academy. The stars were out tonight, and the full, shattered moon of Remnant hung in the sky, casting a glow on the only other occupant of the roof.

Jaune Arc was dressed in the new armor that Pyrrha had seen through the Blackstone portal what felt like a lifetime ago. New gauntlets adorned his hands, his right shoulder pad had been removed, and a brass highlight had been applied to his armor and weapon, Crocea Mors. And he still wore his too small hoodie and jeans under it all.

His face was covered in a thin sheen of sweat from going through the basic lessons Pyrrha had taught him. They weren't meant to turn him into an unstoppable warrior, but to form a strong foundation for the lessons to come. Lessons that she feared she might not be able to continue, for obvious reasons.

But here he was, alive and well, practicing without even noticing her. Of course, this being a dream, Pyrrha realized that it was probably just something her mind came up with. She missed her friends, she missed Jaune, and she missed their moments together. Yeah, that had to be it. That didn't soothe the rapid drumbeat of her heart though, or give her the will to actually move her legs.

She stood there instead, frozen in the threshold, waiting for Jaune to notice her. Unsurprisingly, he was completely oblivious to Pyrrha as he stood back up and ready his sword arm for a practice thrust.

Her voice found itself right then, and she blurted out, "Jaune!"

The young man yelped and made a premature thrust. Sparks flew from his blade, and it bounced out of his hands and lazily arced off the roof into the indistinct void below. If Jaune noticed though, he didn't show any sign.

His deep blue eyes were stuck on Pyrrha, dumbstruck. "P-Pyrrha?! You're here?!"

The look faded from his eyes, growing colder and more cynical. He grumbled to himself "Of course she's here, it's a dream you idiot."

A smile tugged at her lips, "There are worse things to dream about though."

"Thats easy for you to say," Jaune said in a bitter tone. "You're just part of my dream. When I wake up, you'll be gone. Again."

Pyrrha blinked several times, "Wait… Jaune?"

"Yeah, you said my name already, Dream Pyrrha. What am I dreaming about tonight?"

"This doesn't make sense," Pyrrha pressed the palm of her hand against her forehead, "This is _my_ dream. But if you're saying it's yours…"

Something warm bubbled up in her chest, filling and overflowing into a hearty, relieved laugh, "I can't believe it! Jaune it's you, it's really you!"

"Wait, what?" Jaune blinked.

Pyrrha didn't answer, instead leaping across the roof in a single bound and hugging that goofy blonde noodle as hard as she could. The warmth, the sense of touch as she held him as tight as she could went beyond the normal senses of a dream, a sense of another's presence too absolute to actually question. "I can't believe it, you're actually here!"

She laughed again and pulled away, looking up into his eyes. Jaune had gained another inch or two, but it was still him. Same hair, same face, same kind blue eyes. Only this time they were brimming with tears.

He put his hands on Pyrrha's shoulders, and slowly pushed her away, "I don't know what I did, but I want to wake up now."

Pyrrha blinked, "Jaune, what're you…?"

"It's just a dream." he told her, though it sounded like he was telling himself as well. He shook his head, "It's all too good to be true. I just… want to wake up. Please."

The last words came out barely above a whisper, and shaky. Jaune was like glass, he'd break if Pyrrha wasn't careful. She pulled off the glove on her right hand carefully reached up to touch his cheek. He didn't make any move to stop her, but didn't react either.

She felt tears in her own eyes as she caressed his cheek. He felt solid, real. He had to be here, had to be standing in front of her. She refused to believe any other explanation.

"Jaune…" She reached up and brushed her lips against his cheek in a faint kiss. His eyes shot back up to her, slowly widening. Pyrrha pulled back from him and smiled softly, "It's me. I'm okay. I'm far away from home right now, but I'm not dead. Not yet."

The dam burst and Jaune embraced Pyrrha as tight as he could, and he cried. Not heart wrenching sobs, but the tears came, flowing down his face in rivers. Pyrrha returned his hug, and felt the dampness of his tears against her cheek. Maybe they were his tears, maybe they were hers. Pyrrha couldn't tell.

They spent what felt like an eternity like that, though realistically it was probably two or three minutes. They eventually broke their embrace, but Jaune did not let go of Pyrrha, and she did not let go of him. Never again, if she could help it.

Jaune wiped at his tear stained eyes with one hand and sniffled, "I… If this is really you… How? How are you still alive? Ruby saw what happened, she saw Cinder… beat you."

Pyrrha winced as if slapped, and grabbed at her head. That name brought up memories, so many memories that strained against the Black Magic tied into the fabric of her mind. She immediately began to mentally recite each individual piece of Milo and its purpose until the memory subsided and the pain eased. Memories had been roused enough that day that Pyrrha had developed the exercise as a quick way to end her panic attacks before they began.

They worked, but she still felt shaky. Pyrrha clenched her teeth and said, "I don't know Jaune. A lot of my memories of what happened at home are… Well I can't remember what happened. And I don't know why."

"You can't remember? I could fill you in if-"

"No!" the word came out a bit harsher than she meant it too, and Jaune stepped back in surprise.

Pyrrha swallowed nervously, "I'm sorry, but… no. I want to remember Jaune, but whoever took away my memories, it makes trying to remember painful. I can't remember without losing control of… everything. Please, don't tell me what happened."

Jaune certainly meant well, but Pyrrha's memories, while not fully restored, extended far enough. She remembered what happened last time Jaune tried to help without any context. In her personal opinion, Pyrrha would rather not have a repeat of that incident, ever.

"I don't understand," Jaune admitted, "If someone… saved you, why take away your memories?"

Pyrrha smiled bitterly, "If I knew that, I probably would have all my memories. It's not relevant though. How long have I… been gone?"

Jaune's expression fell, "Six months."

That was about what Torchwick had ranted about when they captured him the first time. She hadn't put a lot of stock in his words, but it seemed he was telling the truth. What had been an instant to her, was months for her friends and family. At this rate, Pyrrha wasn't so sure if she wanted to thank her savior anymore.

"I see. I just woke up a few days ago." she admitted, "But, Jaune, I'm not in Vale anymore. Or Remnant for that matter."

He raised a brow, "Um…?"

Pyrrha took a deep breath, "I'm in another world Jaune. They call it Earth, and I'm stuck here. I know it sounds crazy, and it is, but it's the truth."

"I believe you," Jaune said, his voice firm.

She blinked, "You… you do?"

"Pyrrha, five minutes ago I thought you were gone forever." Jaune said, and frowned, "And I'm still not sure if this is real or not. I mean, I know it's a dream, but you being here… I want to believe it's you, that you're here. So if you are, if you are somehow still around and kicking, then I believe your story. I believe you Pyrrha."

The dream world around them suddenly flickered, and the CCT tower in the distance was replaced with a dilapidated ruin. Smoke began to rise from Beacon Academy, as a fire broke out and spread across the campus.

Pyrrha looked around, confused, "What's going on?"

"...Yrrha I can't…"

She looked back and her eyes widened in horror. Jaune was burning before her eyes, fire consuming him inch by inch. He didn't burn where the flames touched him, he simply ceased to be. The young man looked down at himself with surprise and yelped.

"What's...I don't…" his voice kept cutting in and out, growing steadily fainter. The fires raged through Beacon, consuming the dreamworld faster and faster. No smoke, no burns. It simply was no more, an empty whiteness left behind by the flames.

Pyrrha reached out for him, "Jaune, no! Don't go, not now!"

He reached for her as the fires consumed his hand, and it vanished. The roof around them lurched to one side. They both stumbled to the floor, and the fire on Jaune grew wild and intense. He made an effort to reach for Pyrrha one more time, an effort she returned. Their hands met and Pyrrha fought back tears.

"Jaune, please…" He disappeared in fire and ash. Beacon burned around her, the grand institue slowly reduced to cinders and ashes. Pyrrha let her hand dropped to her side and fell to her knees, the tears flowing free once more. "Don't leave me…"

Her dreamworld was purged of any and all signs of Beacon, leaving only an ashen white void in its place, endless in scope. What had been a wonderful dream had very quickly turned into a nightmare. One that was only growing worse by the second.

She heard heels clicking against the void behind her, and her sorrow kindled into anger. Pyrrha grabbed Akoúo̱ and twisted, flinging the shield at whoever was approaching her. They caught it with casual ease, and Pyrrha blinked in surprise as she saw…

Herself, standing ten feet away, holding the shield in her hand. Other Pyrrha looked at Akoúo̱, shrugged, and slung it onto her back. This woman, this Other Pyrrha was identical in every way, except for two. Her ponytail was undone, letting her long hair flow freely. And she was… not taller, but more mature, slightly. She had more curve in her body, more muscle in her arms, and more confidence in her posture. Other than that, she was identical to Pyrrha in every way.

Other Pyrrha crossed her arms and smirked at Pyrrha. She pushed herself up and wiped the tears from her eyes, "Who… what are you?"

"To the first question, I think that's obvious," the doppelganger said, "as for the other, second verse, same as the first. I'm you, more specifically, I'm your subconscious."

Pyrrha stared, "You're… my what? My subconscious?"

"You catch on quick, doncha?" Other Pyrrha replied sarcastically. Her smirk remained and she continued, "Yeah, I'm your subconscious. Your instincts, wants, needs, impulses, all wrapped up in one big beautiful package. We don't get to talk a lot, you and I. But given the absolute wreck of a day you've had, and the fact that the rules of this world are just different enough to matter, I figured we could have an actual face to face chat. I've got some info for you anyway, important stuff you _absolutely_ must know."

"How important?" Pyrrha growled. She was more than ready to employ more… violent means to deal with her supposed subconscious.

Other Pyrrha raised a hand, "Whoa now, leave the impulsive anger to me. I had nothing to do with sending handsome home. That was just the dream fading. The thematically appropriate fire was thanks to the memories that black magic is suppressing. Good news is, it left an opening for me to pop in."

That made some sense, as much as anything else Pyrrha had dealt with the past few days. Her anger cooled for the moment, and she sighed, "Fine, I can understand that. What is so important you had to meet me face to face?"

Other Pyrrha shrugged, "Two big things. We'll start with the important one first."

Her subconscious self walked up to Pyrrha and jabbed a finger at her, "You have to be the most frustrating and sexually repressed woman in the whole of Remnant, you know that right?"

That…

Wait, what?

"What?"

"You heard me," Other Pyrrha practically snarled, humor gone. "You know how long I've spent in the backseat watching you blunder your way through every possible romance we could've had! If _I_ was in charge, we'd have a conga line of guys stretching out of our room all around Beacon, but _no_ , you have to be miss 'prim and proper'!"

Pyrrha's cheeks started to burn, "I-I don't really see how that's re-relevant-"

"It's completely relevant!" Her subconscious yelled, "If you just opened up the valley to someone, maybe we'd have had more emotional support when Beacon went to shit. But no, even after we found that beautiful blonde stallion, did you hop on and ride him from sunrise to sunset!? No, you danced around the subject with all the subtlety and grace of a one legged Beowolf!"

There really wasn't anyway Pyrrha could respond to _that_. Her face matched her hair in color, and she found herself rooted to the floor as her subconscious ranted. Other Pyrrha wasn't entirely...wrong, but even a broken clock was right twice.

"I… think I get your point," Pyrrha finally stammered.

Other Pyrrha glared at her, "Do you though? Or are you just going to play footsy next time you and Jaune run into each other? Come on, actually _do_ something next time, not any of that peck on the cheek crap. Lock lips damn it, we need the practice!"

"Okay, that's enough," Pyrrha interrupted, "Is the only reason you came here to yell at me about my sex life?"

Her subconscious continued to glare for a moment, then let out a sigh, "No, I have a message for you too. When the Gatekeeper was rooting around in our noggin, he dropped it off with me to hold onto until you finally got some sleep. By the way, that's a chat for another time."

Ignoring the twitch in her eye, Pyrrha took a deep breath, "Don't you think that you should've lead with that?"

"I have my own priorities, honey," Other Pyrrha replied, "Anyway, you want to know what the message was or not?"

Pyrrha sighed, "Fine, what did the Gatekeeper leave for us?"

Other Pyrrha produced a sheet of paper from nowhere and cleared her throat. She spoke in perfect imitation of Rashid's voice, down to the accent, "Pyrrha Nikos. I have left with you an address that you may wish to investigate. It may answer some of the questions you have asked, but only if you go alone. Involve others at your own risk. Yours truly, the Gatekeeper."

A frown crossed Pyrrha's face, "That's it? That was… very vague."

"I didn't write the damn thing, I just received it." Other Pyrrha replied, and the paper vanished. She put her hands on her hip and raised a brow, "But that said, I assume we're going to charge in and find our damn answers?"

"What? No! When I wake up I'm going to get Harry and Murphy and tell them about this."

Other Pyrrha sighed, "Girl, did you not just hear the message. Go alone, it's risky to get others involved."

"It would be just as risky to go alone." Pyrrha replied.

Her subconscious folded her arms and frowned, "Would it though? Really?"

Pyrrha looked at the doppelganger uneasily, "What are you getting at?"

Other Pyrrha shook her head, "We all saw Harry, Pyrrha. Torchwick left some nasty marks on him, and that was just from an ambush. The people here aren't anywhere near the level of a huntsman. Harry might have some power, but he's as durable as a paper bag."

"He handled himself fine when we fought the Grimm." Pyrrha pointed out.

"He had several other people to cover him, including us, and that still ended in a mess." Other Pyrrha's face grew more somber, "And besides, if we tell Harry, you know that Murphy will get involved too."

Pyrrha didn't have a response for that. She looked at the ground and clenched her hands. Other Pyrrha clapped a hand on her shoulder, "We were the top of our class. Best of the best. Pyrrha Nikos, the invincible girl. Harry and his friends have done more than enough for us, it's time we started pulling our own weight."

"So you think I should just head off to wherever the Gatekeeper said I should go?" Pyrrha demanded, venom in her voice.

Other Pyrrha smiled and slowly began to fade, "I don't need to think it Pyrrha. You've already made up your mind."

Her subconscious faded into the void, leaving Pyrrha alone once more.

She woke up a minute later, silent and wide awake. Pyrrha sat up and looked at the clock on the wall. It was 3 AM, Harry and Murphy were bound to be asleep by now. She looked over at her gear, neatly arranged on the nightstand.

Pyrrha sighed and got out bed, grabbing her equipment.

* * *

 **A/N: Hehehe, if you guys thought the last chapter was bad, wooo boy, I can't wait to see how you all feel about this one. Lotta stuff just went down. RWBYverse is finally starting to bleed into the Dresdenverse, Jaune knows Pyrrha is alive (Possibly. Dreams are weird) and Pyrrha is off to do something that may or may not be incredibly stupid.**

 **Not sure when the next update will be, but I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Until next time!**


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

The apartment was dead silent when Pyrrha crept out into the living room, quietly shutting the door behind her. The fire was out and Harry and Murphy had retired to their room some time ago. Only the darkened stillness was there to keep her company now.

Pyrrha was dressed in her gear again, with her weapons strapped to her back, and her Scroll comfortably tucked away in her sash. Ready for battle, but not quite sure where that battle was. Luckily for her, Harry had placed the map of Chicago on the table by the fireplace. She didn't dare turn on a light to see, so she'd have to navigate the darkness by memory.

It was a laughably easy task, and Pyrrha crossed the room in complete silence, even her heels quiet against the floor. She reached the table in seconds, and carefully unfolded the map. The crinkling paper was painfully loud in the late night silence, and Pyrrha winced at the noise; she had to be careful, stealth was key right now.

"Whatcha doing?" a small voice asked.

Pyrrha clamped a hand over her mouth, muffling the squeak of surprise. On the table in front of the map, Bonnie's luminescent eyes filled the apartment with a faint emerald glow, her skull face locked in an expression of childish curiosity. Without the light, she hadn't been able to make out the skulls shape on the table. Pyrrha mentally scolded herself for such a rookie mistake, focused on clearing her mind. Sleep still clouded her thoughts.

Bonnie looked down at the map, "What's the map for? Planning a trip?"

The innocence in her question made Pyrrha smile, "Of a sort. I have… to go somewhere for now. It might be part of why I'm here in the first place."

"Shouldn't you grab my dad then?"

Pyrrha cast a guilty glance at Harry's bedroom door, "I considered it, but… I'm just investigating you see. And your dad was pretty beat up today, I don't want him or Murphy getting hurt when it can be avoided."

"Oh, that happens to them all the time," Bonnie whispered casually. "Even when he was pregnant with me, dad always got beat up. It's just part of who he is."

"Maybe. But if I can avoid dragging him into unnecessary danger, I'll do it."

The skull smiled up at Pyrrha, "You're very nice Miss Pyrrha. Thank you."

That almost made Pyrrha reach out and affectionately pat Bonnie on the head, but she resisted the urge and just returned the smile, "You're welcome Bonnie."

A big yawn overtook the young spirit, and she sighed, "I guess I'll go to back to sleep then. When dad wakes up, I'll tell him about your mission. That way he doesn't worry too much."

"That's very kind of you, Bonnie."

Bonnie's skull grinned...somehow.

Pyrrha glanced at the map and frowned, "Actually, can you do something for me real quick?"

"Maybe," Bonnie said in a sing song voice.

Pyrrha rapped the map with her knuckle, "I don't know any of the landmarks in Chicago. I have an address, but I don't know where to find it. Can you help me pinpoint it?"

The frantic pace of the past few days had left Pyrrha without any real chance to learn Chicago's landmarks. A few she would probably recognize, Marcone's castle, the Alpha's 'headquarters', and definitely Harry's apartment. But she didn't know the streets and the address that was now rattling around her skull was useless without context.

Bonnie clacked her wooden teeth together, "That's easy. What's the address?"

Pyrrha told her. Bonnie's eyelights immediately focused, shrinking the emerald glow into miniature spotlights that she swept up and down the map. It took less than a minute for Bonnie to focus along the coast. "Ah ha! The old abandoned industrial zone. Dad fought the Wild Hunt there, it was awesome."

Yet another tale she'd have to learn later. Pyrrha leaned forward and frowned, "How do I get there though?"

Bonnie clacked her teeth again, "Hold on," and some of the fire in her eyes started to leak onto the table. Pyrrha scooted back and watched as the emerald fire twisted and curled across the map in tiny waves. They started at her destination, then trailed along the streets and roads of the map, casually winding between 'buildings' until it connected with Harry's apartment. When Bonnie was done, a glowing green trail had been painted on the map, showing exactly how to get where she needed to go.

Pyrrha smiled and pulled out her Scroll, "Thank you, Bonnie."

Bonnie yawned while Pyrrha snapped several pictures on her phone, "You're welcome!"

Looking at the map one more time, Pyrrha frowned, "That's a ways away from here. I don't think I could make it there on foot in a decent amount of time."

"The keys are by the front door!" Bonnie informed her, cheerfully. "I'd take Miss Murphy's motorcycle, its cool! So I've heard, anyway."

Pyrrha glanced over her shoulder at the door, still frowning. She was already taking a great risk going out on her own without adding to it by essentially stealing Murphy's bike. Granted, she was going to return it, but taking something without asking permission was still stealing, at least, in Pyrrha's mind it was.

On the other hand though, time was most likely not on her side. While Rashid had planted the message in her mind and probably assumed it would be some time before she could act on it, sprinting across Chicago would be an unnecessary waste of time. She'd need a better alternative, something in the middle.

A light flickered on in her mind and Pyrrha smiled, "Bonnie, what's the cab fare for Chicago?"

* * *

As it turned out, Harry had an emergency stash of cash hidden on the inside of Bonnie's skull. He had it stored in case of emergency, and given the situation, Pyrrha figured this qualified. She only took about forty dollars, and left the rest inside the wooden skull.

Flagging a cab wasn't exactly difficult. Loathe as she was to admit it, her outfit really did stick out in a place like Chicago, and even in the dead of night, taxis still prowled the street in search of paying customers. The cabbie was a bit confused by the address Pyrrha gave him, but promising to pay in cash was enough to make him shrug and go along with it.

The route wasn't long, and Pyrrha was glad she didn't have to try and navigate using the directions Bonnie gave her. Chicago was a maze and even with a map, she'd have probably gotten lost among the twisting towers and spires of the city. Her driver on the other hand, drove the streets with no delays.

It was still a long enough trip for Pyrrha to be left alone with her thoughts. As she stared out the window, watching the city pass her by, Pyrrha went over the facts. She knew that someone was bringing in the Grimm, and that according to Rashid's message (provided it was accurate) there might be another incident related to the incursions at the address. However, his insistence that she go alone was troubling. What could Harry possibly do that would place the mission in jeopardy?

Again, presuming this was an actual mission. There were too many questions that weren't adding up. Why tell only her? Why leave a message in her mind, a known and dangerous form of magic that straddled the line between good and evil magic? It didn't make sense.

Pyrrha sighed and rubbed her temples.

"You alright back there miss?" the driver asked. He was a man in his mid forties, a little portly, with a head of thinning blond hair and pale blue eyes,

"I'm fine, sir, just tired." Pyrrha said, and smiled, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, though if you don't mind me asking," he glanced up in the rearview mirror, "What's a young lady like yourself doing wandering the streets alone in a getup like that?"

Another sigh and Pyrrha looked out the window, "It's… a long story. I'm sorry, but I'd rather keep it to myself."

He shrugged, "Fair enough, just curious. Chicago can be a pretty freaky place at night, especially if you're alone."

"I can handle myself, and besides, I'm meeting with colleagues anyway." It wasn't a total lie. Technically, she might meet with someone, if there was any truth to Rashid's statement.

"If you say so, miss," the cabbie shrugged and the rest of the drive was in silence.

They arrived at a fenced off area a few minutes later, and Pyrrha got out of the cab. She offered the cabbie his pay, but he waved her off, "First ride's free tonight miss. You sure this is the place?"

Pyrrha raised a quizzical brow and tucked the cash away, "Yes, I am. I can still pay you sir, it's not an issue."

"It's fine," he insisted, and put the car in drive. Before he left, he looked at Pyrrha with a wary expression, "You be careful kid, alright?"

She smiled, "Alright."

Pyrrha watched the cab drive off. Once it was out of sight, she turned to the gate and the buildings behind it. Bonnie hadn't been kidding when she said it was an abandoned industrial zone. A big sign hung from the chainlink fence stating the buildings were slated for renewal at some point in the unspecified future. Beyond the industrial zone, she could see the lake Chicago had been built around, though its name escaped her.

The years had not been kind to the to this steel mill. Walls and buildings had decayed into masses of steel and concrete rubble, leaving only the largest structures still standing. A trio of concrete walls stretched in the distance and several older warehouses still stood, barely. Pyrrha could see the old remains of steel mills that still hadn't quite been cleaned up. Most were sequestered in the aging walls, a few lay in the abandoned warehouses. Regardless, they had not seen use in decades. Pyrrha shuddered, there had to be a years if not decades of bitter resentful memories in a place like this. The Grimm would fester in it like an old wound until they spilled out onto the city.

She scaled the fence in seconds and silently landed on the opposite side. That may happen someday, but not that day. Pyrrha slung her backpack off her shoulders and pulled Miló and Akoúo̱ from them. She left the pack behind and took off in a silent jog toward the first warehouse.

The building was about three stories high, and covered in rust. Windows had been boarded shut, but the side door had collapsed years ago. Pyrrha came to a stop by the open door, pressed herself against the wall, and listened while keeping her breathing calm. At first she heard nothing but the lakeside breeze, but then it was joined by…

Footsteps?

Pyrrha frowned and pulled out her Scroll, then extended the camera past the doors threshold. She took several pictures, then retracted the device and scrolled through them. In the darkness, Pyrrha hadn't dared use the flash for fear of drawing attention to herself. Luckily, she hadn't needed to.

A man was inside the warehouse carrying a rifle with a flashlight slung under its barrel. He was dressed in a sleeveless white robe with black pants and an undershirt. He wore a grey mask that covered the upper portion of his face, concealed by a black hood. A familiar emblem was painted on his right breast, a blood-red wolf's head, with three slashes behind it.

"The White Fang…" Pyrrha whispered.

A group of Faunus extremists, the White Fang had surged in power and boldness in the months leading up to the Vytal Festival, culminating in Torchwick's attack on Beacon that nearly caused a breach in the city for the Grimm to pour in through. While Pyrrha certainly felt sympathy for Faunus that experienced discrimination and saw such acts as reprehensible, she held no sympathy for the White Fang. Lives had been lost because of them, human and Faunus.

Pyrrha shook her head, now wasn't the time to worry about that. The more important issue was finding out how the White Fang had arrived on Earth, and what their relationship with the Grimm was. They had been surprisingly well equipped, but interdimensional travel seemed to be a little much.

"Let's find out the truth." Pyrrha murmured, and readied Akoúo̱. After taking a moment to gage where the breeze was coming from, Pyrrha flung her shield through the doorway. The makeshift discus spun through air in an upward arc, then abruptly turned down and sailed straight into the White Fang's skull.

He hit the ground with a thud and his rifle went skittering across the floor, casting long shadows all through the warehouse. Pyrrha rushed inside and caught Akoúo̱ before it had time to hit the ground, then planted its convex side on the Faunus's throat. In total, it took less than ten seconds for the guard to find himself on the ground with Pyrrha's knee in his gut. He was understandably surprised.

"Wh-what the?"

Pyrrha placed Miló against his neck and said, in a calm tone, "Try to warn your friends and you'll regret it. Tell me what I want to know, and I'll let you go, understand?"

Weighing his options, the man decided that trying to piss off the mysterious woman with a sword to his throat would be the epitome of a Bad Idea. "Okay, okay, I'll talk. What do you want?"

"How did you wind up here, and where are the rest of you?" Pyrrha demanded, and pressed a little harder with her knee.

The White Fang choked, "I-I don't know! There was this portal thing we went through, but I have no idea where it came from, honest!"

That made sense, Pyrrha admitted.

"And where are the rest of you?" she repeated.

He pointed down the hall, "Down the hall, with all the old smelting equipment, you can't miss it!"

Pyrrha nodded, "Hmm, alright. Thank you for your cooperation."

"You gonna let me go-"

Before he finished, Pyrrha lifted Akoúo̱ from his neck, and slammed it against his forehead once. The White Fang went limp. Pyrrha checked his pulse and let out a relieved sigh. She didn't like doing this interrogation nonsense, and would avoid killing a an unarmed enemy if she could. She was a huntress, not a murderer.

Pyrrha went to his fallen rifle and shut off the light, then she took off down the hall. In the late night darkness, she was careful not to run too fast, there was no telling what might lay on the ground around her. The only source of light she had now, was the faint moonlight shining through holes in the roof and walls, and even that was obscured by the heavy cloud cover.

As she moved farther in though, she noticed that the darkness was beginning to recede. Shadows grew longer, shapes began to form around her, and she could see more than five feet in front of her. Pyrrha slowed to a stop and looked around. Much of the old machinery still lay where it had been abandoned, and above it, she could see the remains of an abandoned catwalk.

That would do.

She scrambled up an old steel press and jumped onto the catwalk, hauling herself onto it and wincing at the racket its brittle frame made. It didn't collapse though, and was surprisingly stable, so it would have to do. Pyrrha crept along the catwalk until she finally came upon the source of the light.

It came from a large room filled with old pipes, chains, and pieces of rebar still jutting from the walls. Whatever purpose this room had served, it was long forgotten by time. The large number of pipes and chains though, made for excellent cover for Pyrrha to get a good look without giving herself away. She positioned herself behind what might've once been a smoke stack, and peered down onto the open floor.

A generator had been placed in the center of the floor, with several floodlights attached to it. A dozen members of the White Fang were scattered around the generator, all of them armed. The air around shimmered with what appeared to be intense heat. It took Pyrrha moment to realize that it wasn't heat, it was the air literally being warped by a greater source of power.

The downside to her hiding spot was that she couldn't see everything down and had to reposition herself to see if her suspicions were right. Pyrrha moved along the catwalk slowly, aware that doing so would put the White Fang between her and her escape route. But she had to see if this was indeed a portal.

She heard voices, vaguely familiar, before she reached a better vantage point. "I don't get it, why are we even here? This whole thing is a waste of time." a young man's voice complained.

"Mercury, were you even paying attention? If the portal isn't powerful enough, then Cinder can't get through" this time it was a woman's. Those names sounded familiar to Pyrrha, but she couldn't quite figure out why. Luckily, she reached another opening between the pipes and chains and found the source of the voices.

The young man was tall and lean, with a mess of silvery grey hair and matching eyes. He wore a black and grey zip up jacket, black pants and boots. A set of rerebraces and vambraces were attached to his arms. He was leaning against another generator with his arms folded and an annoyed look on his face.

The woman was shorter and slender, with light brown skin, mint-green hair and dark red eyes. She wore white pants and brown chaps, and a series of white strips of fabric around a very small green undershirt that exposed her stomach arms and plenty of cleavage. She was looking at the young man, Mercury, with an exasperated expression. They must have had this conversation often.

Pyrrha noted there were two other figures with them. One was hidden in the shadows by the White Fang, though she could make out flashes of… pink, maybe? The other was crouched by the portal, dressed in all black robes that hid their gender.

The portal itself was placed dead center on the factory floor. There were two Blackstone's set up, and the cloaked figure held a third in their hands. Pyrrha couldn't make out what they were doing exactly, but the intent was obvious. She had just found whoever was setting up the stones all over Chicago!

She reached for her Scroll and began snapping pictures, while Mercury shrugged and said, "She got through just fine the first time. Even got that idiot to give us a way to track him down."

"Yeah, but last time it cut her off from her powers. The only other one big enough to let her through was destroyed, so that's why we're here."

Mercury raised a brow, "See, that's another thing I don't get. How does it just cut off her power like that?"

"How should I know? She's not exactly able to explain it to me, and he's not willing to share anything with us."

The cloaked figure spoke up, his voice deep and possibly irritated, "Children. This is very delicate work. Keep your needless ramblings to yourself, or I shall silence the both of you. You are not as indispensable as you believe."

"If you'd just let us come through first, we wouldn't be here in the first place," Mercury replied.

The cloaked man scoffed and returned to the stone, "You and your ilk are far from subtle, child. You know nothing of how this world works, and should you have gained Dresden's attention sooner, this entire operation would have fallen apart."

Harry? They knew about Harry? Oh that was bad, that was really, really bad.

Pyrrha put away her scroll and started back down the catwalk. Mercury had mentioned that this woman, Cinder (Who was she, why did her name make Pyrrha's head hurt?) had already found a way to track Harry. This must've been why the Gatekeeper gave her the message, so she could warn Harry. But why not just warn him, instead of-

Pyrrha didn't get far before a light flared to life and blinded her. She raised a hand to cover her eyes and took a step back, readying her shield for an attack that didn't immediately come. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the light, and Pyrrha lowered her hand.

A small woman, shorter even than Murphy, stood on the catwalk in front of Pyrrha, hand on her hip. She wore a black and pink coat, with tall black boots and pants. In one hand she held a black umbrella laced with pink trimming, in the other she held the flashlight she was pointing at Pyrrha. Her hair was long and had two colors. One half was bright pink, the other dark brown, and the curtains matched the windows, so to speak. Her eyes were pink and brown as well.

"Um…" Pyrrha said, slowly.

The woman smiled and held up the hand with the umbrella in it, and… a detonator.

Pyrrha didn't get a chance to react. All she heard was a low beep, a roar, and then the world began to spin. She crashed off one of the pipes and fell through a curtain of chains before she hit the concrete with a thud.

The world didn't stop spinning, and flashes of light kept flashing across her vision. A small part of her realized it was her Aura. The… explosive had to have been either very powerful or right next to her when it went off for her Aura to be broken. Around her, bits of flaming debris rained onto the ground, and a thick cloud of smoke and dust was rapidly filling the factory. Pyrrha blinked her eyes a few times and tried getting her body to respond, while the distant shouts of surprised guards spurred her to move faster..

It was a useless process, her limbs felt like concrete, heavy and unwieldy. Pyrrha had only just got her arms under her, when she heard the sound of heels on concrete. The short woman's face appeared above her own a moment later, and smirked. She raised her boot over Pyrrha's face, and...

Everything went dark.

* * *

 **A/N: An admittedly short chapter, mostly bridging the gap and partially because I have been suffering an incredibly headache the past day or two that came in the middle of this chapter. So expect a possible rewrite in the future when my head doesn't feel like someone took a jackhammer to it.**

 **Not a lot else to say, lotta big plot elements went down, and the next chapter is one of the first things I had planned when I started this story. Expect things to get...**

 **Crazy.**


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

It didn't take long for Pyrrha to regain consciousness. She slowly blinked open her eyes, and the world slowly swayed into focus. Only, the swaying wasn't because of the spinning headache she had (though that certainly didn't help), but a result of being suspended in the air in a knot of thick ropes. Pyrrha looked down at the floor twenty or thirty feet below, and saw a White Fang heaving on the rope that was holding her in the air, bouncing her back and forth with each pull. She hit the wall behind her a few times, and scowled.

"Alright, you're good, hold it there!" A familiar voice ordered, and the rope stopped.

Pyrrha looked back up as she swung in place, and saw her captors standing on a catwalk on the wall opposite her. It was the green haired girl, whose name escaped her at the moment, who had sent the order down. Mercury was casually sitting on the railing, gleefully unaware or uncaring of the steel's dilapidated condition. The young woman with heterochromic eyes stood behind them, holding her umbrella on both ends and grinning at Pyrrha.

The man in the black robes was not standing among them. Pyrrha looked around and spotted him back at the portal. The fourth stone had been placed, and he held a fifth in his hands while he chanted in a rasping whisper that reverberated through the abandoned mill. In the short time Pyrrha had been unconscious, the portal had lost its rounded edges and began to take a more rigid gate-like shape, large enough to drive a bus through. Even from her position, it was large enough that she could make out what was on the other side; a twisted landscape of bloody hills, dark crystals, and scarlet clouds, that looked to be slowly crossing from Remnant to Earth.

A black goo oozed from the bottom of the portal, slowly dripping onto the concrete floor and leaving it heavily stained. It had yet to spread beyond the four Blackstones, but the closest edges boiled and bubbled as they neared them. Thin scarlet lines had appeared in the concrete, forming an ornate circle on the inside of the Blackstones that branched out and touched each at its base. Every hair on Pyrrha's body stood on end just looking at the spectacle.

Where in the world did that portal lead?

"Hey look, she's awake," Mercury snickered. "That didn't last long."

Pyrrha looked up from the portal back at her captors, and frowned at him, "I remember you now, from the Vytal Festival. You were a Mistral student, I think."

"Oh, you remember me? Hey Emerald, Pyrrha Nikos remembers me!" Mercury said in mock excitement.

The green haired girl, Emerald, rolled her eyes and said, "We're not from Mistral. After what you saw at Beacon, that should be obvious."

Pyrrha stared at her, blankly. Emerald folded her arms and slowly raised a brow, "You… never saw us, did you?"

"I… don't think so."

While her memories were better, Pyrrha still had no idea what had happened at the Vytal Festival after her talk with Jaune, a fact she intended on keeping to herself. Mercury she remembered briefly sparring with, but Emerald she'd only seen on campus once or twice. Given the former's odd behavior during their session though, them being villains made sense. Kind of.

This also meant that they knew what had happened at Beacon, and that Pyrrha could get the answers she was looking for, if it weren't for the stupid spell that threatened to shatter her mind every time she gave the event serious thought. If either of them found out about that, Pyrrha would be at their mercy; she had to escape before that became a reality.

Her mind set to work analyzing her situation, obviously the three of them had some idea of her Semblance, which was why they had her suspended so high up and away from the machinery. Pyrrha had a soft limit on her Semblance, anything over fifty feet grew difficult, a hundred was sketchy at best, which was one reason she'd worked to keep her abilities, at the very least, subtle. It certainly wasn't a great range, but if others believed that she was limited to close combat, it was a tactical advantage she could exploit when need be.

Like if she was captured by the enemy, obviously. Pyrrha focused her mind and began taking stock of her location. The first thing she realized was that, decades of work in the mills had infused the entire structure with flecks of metal, too tiny for most to notice, but to Pyrrha they were a thousand gleaming stars in the darkness.

Emerald spoke, briefly catching Pyrrha's attention, "I guess it doesn't matter. What does matter, is what you're doing here. You're supposed to be dead."

Pyrrha blinked, "Um… I got better?"

Mercury snickered and the pink haired girl smirked. Emerald elbowed him and glared at Pyrrha, "You can joke if you want, but when Cinder gets here, she'll rip any answer we want from your mind. So, my advice? Tell us what we want to know, it'll save you some trouble."

She glared at the man at the portal, "At this rate, you have plenty of time to answer, too."

The man turned his hooded face to look at Emerald; he didn't stop his chanting while he did. The distance between their groups was far enough that making out his facial features within his hood would've been impossible. Yet even then, Pyrrha could feel the utter disgust radiating from the man, and maybe it was her imagination, but the dimly lit room seemed to grow even darker for a moment.

Emerald averted her eyes from his gaze. He slowly returned his attention to the Blackstone, and resumed chanting.

"So… who is that?" Pyrrha asked.

That got her a withering glare from Emerald, "You're not the one asking questions here, we are. How stupid do you think we are?"

Mercury snickered again, "Well…"

"Oh don't you start!"

Pyrrha immediately tuned them out and began focusing again. Most of the steel she could actually use was either too far away or too small to be of any immediate use. They'd been smart in tying her up where she was. However, they had forgotten to check for one very important detail. In larger buildings, concrete alone wasn't enough to support the structure, they were often interlaced with steel rebar to create an even stronger building. This old abandoned mill was no exception, and a particularly large girder was located almost directly behind her, a stroke of luck so good she'd question it more thoroughly if she had the time.

Focusing her Semblance on the beam was the easy part, that much steel in one area was a blazing beacon compared to tiny sparks around that littered the factory, and she easily managed to 'grip' it. Pyrrha tested her grip of the beam, willing it to contract. The wall shivered, sending tiny flakes of dust raining down from what was left of the ceiling. Pyrrha suppressed her smile and relaxed her Semblance for the moment.

She immediately realized that the argument between Emerald and Mercury had ceased, with the former glaring daggers into Pyrrha's skull. "Yes?"

"Are you even paying attention?" Emerald demanded, "I asked how you knew we were here? We're impossible to track from this world, unless someone told you about us."

Pyrrha smiled innocently, "Oh, I'm sorry. Since you two were arguing, I figured I'd use the free time to plan my escape."

Mercury snorted, "Right. We know about your Semblance, Nikos. You're not getting out that easily."

"Oh? Is that so?" Pyrrha asked.

The base of the concrete wall behind her promptly exploded into dust and rubble. The girder erupted from the wall, sending debris everywhere and filling the factory with smoke. Pyrrha felt solid ground beneath her feet, and the rope supporting her went limp. She willed the beam up another five feet or so, until the catwalk was below her.

"Because that was pretty easy!"

Over her hacking coughs, Emerald's shouted, "Quick! Stop her!"

Mercury shot out of the cloud of debris, his jump arching over Pyrrha, and landed on the girder behind her. Pyrrha whirled around, and stepped backwards, away from him. While they hadn't bothered to tie up her legs, her arms were still pressed tightly to her side, keeping her at a distinct disadvantage.

Mercury spun on his heel in a roundhouse kick aimed at Pyrrha's head, only for it to go wide and hit the girder with a harmless shower of sparks. Maybe it wasn't that distinct a disadvantage. He followed through his kick's momentum, twisting into the air and bringing his other leg down on Pyrrha's head. Her legs buckled from under her and she slammed her jaw against the iron beam, star's flashing behind her eyes.

Her vision cleared in time to see him raising his foot again to slam her face into the beam. Using her Semblance, she seized his boot and pushed. Mercury went flipping backwards across the beam and landed on his feet, unharmed, but surprised. Pyrrha struggled back to her feet, difficult with her hands bound, and looked over the side.

The dust was settling and the White Fang below were milling around in confusion. They hadn't noticed her yet, which meant-

Her train of thought was cut off by a sliver of steel sliding between her arm and torso, nicking her corset and cutting through the rope. The pink haired girl planted a knee in Pyrrha's back and slammed her back onto the beam face first. Pyrrha rolled to her side, and would have free-fallen to the ground below, only for the rope to snap taut. She gasped for air and looked up.

Mercury had pinned the rope to the beam with his boot and smirked at her. "End of the line, Nikos!"

He seized the rope and heaved her back up to the duo. Pyrrha let him. The moment she was back on the beam, she shoved his legs out from under him with her Semblance. Mercury face planted into the beam before tumbling to the ground below.

Her other assailant stabbed her umbrella-sword towards Pyrrha's face. It would have killed her then and there, if not for Pyrrha's Semblance protecting her again. She didn't normally use it that often, and hardly in such obvious fashion, but this was a life and death fight, and her arms were pinned. Screw subtlety, she was not going to die and leave Murphy and Harry unprepared for what was coming.

The blade stopped an inch from her eye, quivering with restrained energy. Pyrrha took a brief moment to swallow nervously, never taking her eye off the sharpened steel, and willed it to the side. Her attacker pressed harder onto her weapons hilt, to no avail. Once past her face, Pyrrha released her Semblance. The blade scraped off the side of the girder, jerking it from the pink-haired girl's hand.

She glared at Pyrrha and raised a closed fist. Pyrrha quickly focused her Semblance on the girder and willed it to fall away. In a screech of protesting metal, it did just that, folding under her attacker's feet. Only last minute instinct kept her from hitting the floor, instead, grabbing the edges of the beam as she fell and slid to a stop at the bottom.

Pyrrha didn't spare her a second look, instead she focused on getting her knees under her until she was sitting up and grabbing the fallen weapon with her Semblance. With just a few quick motions, the ropes binding her arms fell free, and Pyrrha got to her feet, weapon in hand. The balance and length was off, but fighting barehanded was out of the cards.

A quick glance at the ground below showed the White Fang had finally started to organize themselves. Mercury was nowhere to be seen, which rang a dozen warning bells in Pyrrha's head. She removed her gaze from the ground and blinked. Across from her, Emerald was crouched on the beam, slowly creeping forward with her pistols in hand.

"What in the world are you doing? Is that… is that supposed to be stealth?" Pyrrha didn't mean to sound rude, but… She hadn't expected anything so...bizarre.

Emerald, for her part, looked caught off guard by Pyrrha's statement, but didn't say anything. Instead, her eyes narrowed and…

A very faint tingling sensation arose at the base of Pyrrha's skull, slowly flowing through the rest of her head. Were it not for her painful headaches and seizures over the past few days, she never would have noticed it at all. She rubbed at her eyes, and blinked a few times. The image of Emerald flickered and began to fade from Pyrrha's sight, until a river of ice coursed through her veins and froze the sensation in place.

It wasn't a painful sensation, more of a surprise, like stepping into a cold shower. But it stopped the sensation in her skull, and washed it away. When Pyrrha focused her eyes again, Emerald was back in place, an expression of shock on her face.

The wires sparked a connection in Pyrrha's mind, and ignited a hidden source of anger and frustration that had been building for days. Pyrrha screamed and slammed her foot on the beam, and the entire structure folded like paper, slamming into Emerald and pinning her to the wall.

Pyrrha jumped on top of the bend and grabbed her by the throat, "Don't you ever try and get inside my head again, understand!?"

Emerald choked and grabbed at Pyrrha's hand, but the young woman's grip was like iron. The iron rebar folded at Pyrrha's command, and she lifted Emerald overhead with both hands, and threw her down to the floor below.

An unfortunate White Fang was crushed by the falling Emerald, His luck only grew worse when Pyrrha launched herself after her and slammed both feet into the girl's back. The concrete floor exploded into dust and chips, fractures racing along the ground. Pyrrha took a few steps back, breathing hard and glaring at Emerald's form.

A part of her felt horrified at her reaction. Another felt satisfied. Lea's gift had paid off, saved her from a potentially very dangerous foe, and protected Pyrrha from another attempt at mucking with her mind.

"Never...again." She breathed. No one would ever malevolently sabotage her mind like that if she could help it.

Pyrrha knelt by the crater and picked up the White Fang's weapon, a broad bladed machete. She glanced at the umbrella, shrugged, and tossed it deeper into the facility. It hadn't even hit the ground, when Mercury made his presence known again. Primarily by introducing his boot to the side of her head.

She hit the ground and rolled on instinct, barely dodging a follow-up kick from Mercury that left a hole in the floor. When she got back up, he didn't let up. Mercury moved with the liquid grace his name implied, showering Pyrrha with a barrage of punches and kicks assisted by the weaponry built into his boots.

Her borrowed blade was a blur as she met or deflected his hurricane of attacks. With her Semblance, she was able to keep him from landing any serious blows, but his stamina was unbelievable. Mercury showed no sign of slowing, even after Pyrrha redirected his foot into the ground, burying it to the ankle. He just shot his other leg up in an axe-kick that just grazed the edge of her chin.

The worst part though, was that this wasn't a one-on-one fight, Pyrrha had forgotten that. The White Fang had fled when she flattened one of their members with Emerald, but her other captor hadn't left, and reminded Pyrrha in the best - or rather, worst - way possible.

As the redhead backpedaled from Mercury, something hooked the back of her ankle. Before she could even yelp, Pyrrha's leg was yanked out from under her and she slammed the back of her head against the concrete floor, flashes of light filling her vision.

By the time she could see clearly, it was in time to see Mercury arch into the air, flipping as he did, and bringing the base of his boot down on Pyrrha's gut. Concrete shattered and the air shuddered; Pyrrha gasped for air and felt her dinner threaten to come back up.

Mercury stood up and off her, smirking, "Nice one, Neo. I had her though."

The pink haired woman, Neo, sent Mercury an annoyed look. Without a word, she grabbed the hilt of her umbrella, and drew a slender blade the width of Pyrrha's middle finger from it. The blade gave off an eerie light in the abandoned mill. Pyrrha started struggling to get up, still gasping with every movement.

Neo's eyes flicked to Pyrrha's struggling form, and her face twisted into a sadistic grin, Mercury noted it and gestured for her to proceed, "Be my guest."

With a few breaths in her now, Pyrrha gasped and said, "I...remember you now… You were one of… Roman Torchwick's lieutenants. You were on the news."

Neo's sadistic grin quickly changed into a furious scowl, and she raised her sword. There was a faint tremble in her grip, unnoticeable to all but the most well-trained eye. Pyrrha caught the motion and mentally smiled.

"Did you know he's alive?"

The expression on Neo's face didn't change. But there was a hesitation in her stance now, an unsureness to her posture. Mercury saw it this time and rolled his eyes. "For the love of- Come on, you can't be that stupid. Torchwick's gone, she's just trying to save her skin."

He took a step toward Pyrrha to finish what Neo hesitated on. The tip of her sword flicked to the apple of his throat, not quite touching it, but sending a clear message.

Pyrrha smiled, "Thank you Neo."

She launched from her crouch, slamming her shoulder into Mercury's chest, sending him tumbling. Pyrrha didn't even bother stopping to finish him, she just ran. A prolonged engagement was out of the question, obviously, she just needed to get out of there as quickly as possible and warn the others.

At her crater, Emerald was slowly pulling herself out of the hole, when Pyrrha went sprinting by. Again, the green-haired woman was ignored, leaving only the man in robes between Pyrrha and her escape.

That was all it took, to stop her dead in her tracks.

Pyrrha got within maybe twenty feet of the man, when he turned his hooded head towards her, and gestured with his free hand. An immense pressure of invisible force seemed to fall from the sky and promptly crush Pyrrha where she stood. Her Aura kept her from being reduced to pulp, but she went flat to the floor in an instant.

She quickly realized that, no, she hadn't been crushed by some sort of invisible weight. Rather, the man had somehow affected gravity to increase exponentially on Pyrrha. The bits of broken plaster and steel around her casually floated through the air, bouncing off one another and drifting farther away.

Behind her, Mercury yelped as his feet could no longer find traction and he drifted upwards into the sky, flailing his arms and legs uselessly. Emerald and Neo were smart enough to, at the very least, stop at the edge of the anti-gravity zone.

The hooded man looked past Pyrrha at Emerald, and halted his chanting, for the briefest moment, to speak to her. "Control your prisoner, child. I cannot do your job for you."

He promptly went back to his chanting, and the weight vanished. Mercury fell face first into the floor a moment later. Emerald and Neo ran past him toward Pyrrha, the former only pausing long enough to say, "Quit lying around and get moving!" before going after Neo.

The pink haired woman reached Pyrrha first, as she sat up and struggled to get her legs under her. Neo stabbed her blade at Pyrrha's vulnerable chest, but was deflected by a clumsy parry. That didn't really stop Neo, as she hit Pyrrha with her backhand after a quick recovery.

Pyrrha staggered and nearly fell over, catching herself at the last moment. She scrambled and got her feet under her, quickly putting distance between herself and the others. Just in time too, Neo had come in for another attack, and missed just barely.

Emerald flanked Pyrrha from her left, two green kusarigama in her hands, curved sickle-like weapons. The first blow bounced off Pyrrha's borrowed machete, the next missed her face by an inch and scraped the edge of her tiara. Pyrrha whirled to the side and slashed at Emerald, who quickly jumped away.

Neo filled in the gap, slashing and stabbing at Pyrrha. Her adrenaline was pumping, her senses burning into overdrive. She was truly ready for a fight now. Neo's blade slid off the machete, leaving her open for Pyrrha to knee her once in the stomach, before spin-kicking her across the room.

The moment she was gone though, Emerald came right back swinging. Their blades whirled through the air, too fast for the untrained human eye to follow. Pyrrha ducked, dodged and weaved through the barrage of blows. Sparks erupted every time their weapons connected. Emerald was fast, and she was agile, but she just couldn't hit Pyrrha because of her Semblance!

Emerald spun both her kusarigama in an upward slash. Pyrrha used her Semblance to casually deflect them, and hit Emerald across the face with her open palm, sending her stumbling into the wall. Pyrrha brought back her sword arm, and felt Neo hook the end of her umbrella around her wrist, whipping Pyrrha away from Emerald and into Mercury's boots.

The silver haired youth was back in the fight and slammed into Pyrrha's face hard, firing the built-in shotguns at the same time. Pyrrha whipped backwards, into Emerald's range. The hilt of her weapon came off, revealing a long chain that she wrapped around Pyrrha's ankle in a flash, and heaved.

The chain went taut and sent Pyrrha flying through the air and slammed her into the concrete wall. The entire structure shuddered and flakes of dust rained on them. Pyrrha was aware that the fight had very quickly turned against her. She was outnumbered and outgunned, she needed Miló and Akoúo̱ to tilt the odds in her favor.

Easier said than done.

As she struggled to pull herself off the wall, Mercury sprinted full speed at her and jumped. Time slowed for the briefest moment, giving Pyrrha time to register exactly what was about to happen; then he hit her, and the wall gave way.

Pyrrha tumbled through the new opening and hit something hard. When she was able to make out the world again, she realized she'd hit a White Fang and knocked him out. The dozen or so White Fang that had been acting as watchmen now surrounded her, armed to the teeth. One of them though held a very familiar bronze sword and shield in his arms...

"Too much Mercury," Emerald chided. "This place is barely holding together as it is, we don't need to add anymore holes to it."

Mercury rolled his shoulders, and cracked his neck, "Sorry, got a bit into it. That should've done it though-"

A White Fang flew backwards out of the hole, screaming, and crashed between the trio. They looked at the groaning man, then back up at the hole he had emerged from.

Pyrrha emerged with her shield firmly secured and her spear in hand. She stopped on the threshold, and her grip tightened on her weapons. Behind her, the White Fang lay scattered across the floor in various positions, all of them unconsciousness. Mercury, Emerald, and Neo scanned over the wreckage for a moment, then looked back at Pyrrha.

For a tense moment, neither they nor the redhead made a move, and the only sound was the robed man's chanting and the groaning of the factory walls. The removal of a support beam, and the fresh hole in the wall had taken its toll on the factory wall; even before it had been abandoned, a fight like this would've been a bit much for it to handle. Now, all it would take was one wrong move, and…

A fist-sized chunk of concrete fell from the ruined wall, clattered to the floor, and that was all she wrote.

An entire section of the structure promptly gave up and made the long fall to the ground swathed in a cloud of roiling dust and debris. Pyrrha shot towards Emerald first, blindingly fast. Emerald parried the thrust of her spear, sliding around her at the same time.

Pyrrha leapt up, twisting and swinging her shield out to catch Neo's attempted attack. The blade bounced off it with a hollow 'bwong' and Neo retreated. Pyrrha slashed at Emerald, quickly switching between sword and spear from each swing and stab. A piece of concrete fell between the two, forcing them to disengage.

Mercury suddenly emerged from the smoke, planting both feet on her shield and pushing. An explosion rent the air and Pyrrha went sliding across the room. But she did not lose her footing, even as another chunk of concrete crashed in front of her with a thud.

Neo landed on the far end of it and sprinted forward. Pyrrha thrust Milo up at her, but Neo cartwheeled out of the way and tried to kick Pyrrha's leg out from under her once she was on her feet. Pyrrha dodged the attack, jumped back, and leaped forward as another chunk of concrete fell right between them, hitting it with her shield. It went spiraling at Neo, forcing her to dodge to the side.

Pyrrha threw Akoúo̱ at Neo as she came out of her roll, knocking the little woman off her feet. She recalled the shield with her Semblance in time to block another kick from Mercury. At the same time, Emerald seemed to appear out of nowhere from the clouds, slamming both of her sickles down at Pyrrha's head. Milo expanded to spear mode, and Pyrrha blocked both weapons with the hilt and blade, holding Milo in the middle.

She held them both like that for a brief moment, struggling against their combined strength. With only one arm available for both, she simply couldn't hope to match their individual strength. Her Semblance was the tipping factor of course,.

Pouring it into her sword and spear, Pyrrha shoved and shoved hard. Emerald yelled in surprise and went tumbling back into the smoke. Mercury used the shove as a springboard, backflipping through the air. The moment he hit the ground, he jumped and kicked.

He was too far to have any chance of kicking Pyrrha, but that wasn't the point. Instead, he fired the weapons built into his boots, sending a streak of white energy searing through the air and slamming into Akoúo̱. Pyrrha stumbled in surprise, and Mercury smirked.

As fast as he could, he started throwing out more of that white energy, practically dancing as he filled the already crowded air with spinning white fire that spiraled around him like a school of piranha, with Pyrrha as the main course.

When he felt he had fired enough, Mercury sent every 'shot' screaming at Pyrrha. She put up a good challenge, he'd give her that. She knocked aside the first one and began dodging and weaving through his barrage, using her weapons to deflect or block the attacks. But he'd been thorough, and Pyrrha found herself quickly overwhelmed. The barrage hammered her, knocking her senseless and off her feet.

It was Emerald who took advantage of Pyrrha's stunned state, the chain of her weapons wrapping around her waist and yanking her out of the cloud. Pyrrha flew into a large steel chimney, denting the metal and bouncing onto the floor below.

She barely caught herself, falling to one knee and using Akoúo̱ to support herself. Mercury, Emerald, and Neo emerged from the cloud a moment later, forming a half circle surrounding her. The wall finally finished its collapse, leaving only the chanting of the robed man to fill the air.

"Good fight," Mercury admitted. "But we knew what to expect from you, Nikos."

"Plenty of footage from your best fights and we knew what your Semblance was." Emerald agreed. "You never stood a chance."

Pyrrha let out a tired laugh, "That's...that's it? Just the footage from my...tournament bouts? And my sparring practices?"

She laughed again, "I was always taught...never to escalate a fight. Restraint and control were the foundation upon which I built my skill. You've seen how I in tournaments, friendly competitions…"

Despite the protest of her aching muscles, Pyrrha pushed herself to her feet and glared at her attackers, "But only a handful of people have ever witnessed what I'm really capable of."

They never got a chance to react. Pyrrha had pulled every ounce of her strength, her Semblance, into gathering the millions of iron particles that were a part of the buildings very core. Individually, they were too small to be a threat to anyone, but there was indeed a strength and numbers.

Pyrrha gathered them all under her Semblance, and without giving her attackers a chance to react, unleashed her swarm on them. A sea of living iron erupted from the floor and walls, from every nook and cranny the building had to offer. They coalesced around Pyrrha first, a pulsating mass of steel that rapidly rose behind her.

Chunks of iron were ripped from the abandoned machines, chains whipped into the swarm at Pyrrha's whim. Never before has she tried something on a scale this massive, it had been impractical, and she personally believed, impossible. Yet here she was with a fire burning in her chest as she reminded the trio just who they were messing with.

Pyrrha Nikos, the Invincible Girl from Beacon Academy, unleashed the full might of her Semblance on Mercury, Emerald, and Neo.

They never stood a chance.

Chains dragged Emerald off first, wrapping around her arms and legs and slamming her into the nearest wall, then dragging her off into the swarm. Neo was smart enough to turn and run, only for a piece of railing to hook her legs out from under her and send her flying down the length of the mill. Mercury launched himself away from the swarm, managing to dodge a dozen reaching and grabbing tendrils of steel. His shotgun like kicks tore gaping holes in the swarm, but it was useless.

He found brief purchase on a wall and launched himself at Pyrrha, sending a rippling shockwave through the air that disrupted the lesser swarm of steel particles. Pyrrha raised a steel plate in front of her that Mercury hit, hard. It crumpled like tissue paper, and wrapped itself tight around his legs.

"What the!?"

With a wave of her hand, Pyrrha slammed Mercury into the ground, into the wall, into what was left of the ceiling, tossing him about like a ragdoll with her Semblance. After he bounced off the ceiling, she sent him careening through the nearest wall.

Suddenly, Pyrrha felt cold. Not the icy cold from her tiara or from proximity to a Blackstone. No, she felt numb in her hands and feet, all the feeling simply gone. The fire she'd felt burning inside her, the passion that had given her the strength to utterly destroy her opponents was fading and fast.

Pyrrha fell to her knees and her swarm began to collapse, piles of steel dust accumulating around her. But she wasn't done, not here, not yet. The portal still stood, and the air was beginning to quiver. The cowled figure was finishing his ritual, preparing to let Mercury and Emerald's superior through. Even if she could handle this 'Cinder', the man had made it clear he was in a league all his own.

She couldn't get near him without being flattened. But then again, she didn't need to. With the last of her strength, Pyrrha seized the chimney she had been flung into only minutes earlier, and pulled with her Semblance. The steel column groaned, its surface holding firm for only a moment, before it buckled and began the slow fall towards the Blackstones.

The hooded man's chanting halted, and he looked up at his descending doom. He looked back at Pyrrha, right as the column crushed him, and the Blackstones underneath its colossal weight.

The world roared with fire and lightning, and then everything went black.

* * *

 **A/N: Whew, this one was a doozy folks. Long long fight scene I spent a while reworking several times. I'll probably rework it again sometime in the future, but for the moment, I'm satisfied with it. And don't worry about Pyrrha's obscene power at the end. That was a result of... things.  
**

 **If I say anymore, spoilers.**

 **Anyway! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter even if it mostly was just lots and lots of fighting, but hey, wouldn't be a RWBY crossover if it wasn't.**

 **Next up, we see the aftermath of five Blackstones exploding and Pyrrha deals with the consequences of setting off explosives in the middle of a city.**

 **See you all next time!**


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Pyrrha awoke in darkness threatening to crush and suffocate her, a vast pressure engulfed her, pinning her in place. The air was a thin, stale thing that rapidly turned Pyrrha's ragged gasps for air into painful hacking fits. She struggled and thrashed in place, against the presence holding her down, to no avail. Her limbs felt rubbery and weak, tingling with pins and needles while barely responding to her commands and her heart thundered within her chest.

She desperately reached out with her Semblance, frayed and exhausted though it was, and found herself surrounded by the brilliant light of steel. Memories quickly returned and she remembered the battle with Mercury and Emerald at the mill, and her last ditch effort to destroy the Blackstones. The rubble from the explosion must've fallen over and trapped her within this makeshift cave.

Now aware of where she was, Pyrrha's breathing slowed and her heart slowed to a more manageable tempo. She was trapped under tons of steel and concrete, hardly a dangerous situation for someone like her, there was no reason to panic yet. Focusing her Semblance on a beam of steel overhead, Pyrrha pushed it away. Concrete broke apart and fell away, allowing the faint moonlight to return. Fresh air filled her makeshift tomb, and Pyrrha happily sucked in a clean breath.

Breaking free from that point on was simple. Despite the weakness of her limbs, Pyrrha was able to escape and started pulling herself out of the escape hole she'd made. She had to pause though, when she saw the steel mill. Or rather, what was left of it.

Nothing of the original steel mill remained standing, the whole building had been blown apart in the resulting explosion. The ground was scorched black and gnarled pieces of steel rose from the ground like twisted shadows. Rubble lay everywhere, pale beneath the night sky. The only area seemingly untouched was where the ritual itself had occurred - save for four black smudges on the ground, there was not a piece of debris in a circle twenty feet in diameter. There was no sign of the robed man either, but given he was on ground zero, it would not have surprised Pyrrha if he were another black smudge on the ground.

It was a shame that it had come to that, but if Pyrrha had to choose between preserving a city's worth of people at the expense of a malevolent man's malicious machinations, she would do it every time. Surprisingly, that didn't make her feel much better.

Pyrrha braced herself against the rim of the rubble and started to heave herself up, as a chunk of stone the size of a small car on the other side of the clearing shifted. The stone ground against the rubble for a moment, trembled once, then promptly fell to one side with a loud crash. Pyrrha immediately ducked back in her hole, only daring to peer over the edge at who emerged from under the rubble.

The man in the black robes stood to his full height and cracked his neck once. His robes, stained with the dust of concrete and frayed around the edges, showed no sign of any injury the man might have suffered. Pyrrha swallowed nervously and sank lower into her hole. What was this man, to survive an explosion like that at point blank range?

He cast his hooded gaze over the ruined landscape, still hiding his features within the cowl. For the briefest moment, he paused when looking at Pyrrha. Her breath caught in her throat, and she froze. He stared for a brief second, then continued sweeping his gaze over the land.

After a full sweep, he shook his head and waved one gloved hand through the air. Pyrrha watched in amazement as the air itself split apart and showered the ruins in angry red light, revealing a forest burnt to ashes, suspended midair. She immediately recognized the spell he had used as opening a portal into the Nevernever, like Harry; so he was indeed a wizard, and likely a very powerful one at that, it wasn't much to go off of, but it was better than nothing.

The man stepped up into the portal without a second look, and casually flicked his hand behind him. The portal slid shut a moment later, plunging Pyrrha back into her lonely darkness, where she did not dare move. If he had survived the explosion, then there was a chance that Mercury and the others had survived as well, and Pyrrha was in no shape for another fight. So, she waited in her little shelter for any sign of her former captors.

Pyrrha must have waited for close to fifteen or twenty minutes before she came to the conclusion that Mercury and Emerald were not going to magically erupt from the ground like the robed man had. She could flee the steel mill without any fear of retribution.

Pulling herself out of her position was harder than it should have been, limbs still heavy with exhaustion. Her legs nearly buckled when she stood up, making her stumble down the hill. She fell to one knee at the base of the hill, and nearly collapsed. This was more than just exhaustion, any reserve of energy she might have possessed had shriveled up and died.

There wasn't time for this!

Through sheer will, Pyrrha forced herself back onto her feet and began stumbling through the ruins. Her vision swam as she staggered over the uneven ground, and nearly tripped over several pieces of rubble. As she walked, Pyrrha became dimly aware that she had forgotten… something, but what?

The ground finally began to clear before her, and her stride became more confident. Exhaustion still weighed on her like a sack of bricks, but she could shoulder the 'weight' now, and reached what was left of the fence in short order.

The explosion had even reached the fence, barely, tearing the metal poles from their roots and flinging several onto the street and beyond. A few still remained standing, somehow, burned from the proximity to the detonation. Pyrrha stumbled over to one of these remaining posts and just leaned against it while she caught her breath.

She had only been there for a minute, when a car turned the corner down the street and signed its headlights on her. Pyrrha raised a hand to block the light, then found her ears assaulted with a siren, and the light began flashing red and blue.

The police cruiser rolled to a stop in front of her, and a heavyset man with dark skin in his mid fifties stepped out. His beard was frosted in contrast to his dark skin, and he wore an old weather-beaten overcoat and an off-the-rack suit. Laugh lines covered his face, he seemed like a normally upbeat and happy man. Normally being the keyword, as he wore a very serious expression.

Pyrrha struggled to stand up and smiled innocently, "Um, hello officer… quiet evening, don't you think?"

* * *

An hour later, Pyrrha found herself sitting in a plain tiled room with a one-way mirror filling one of the walls and seated on a steel chair in front of a steel table. Obviously, this an interrogation room at one of Chicago's precincts.

If anyone she knew was there, they'd laugh at the situation she found herself in, hands cuffed and the big man, Rawlins, sitting across from her with a steaming cup of coffee and a plate of donuts in the center of the table. Pyrrha was the last person to _ever_ be arrested for any reason, and yet, here she was.

Pyrrha had drifted in and out of a state of semi-sleep after he had arrested her and brought her to the Special Investigations building. She hadn't seen much of it, but remembered being taken to several desks and sitting silently as the cops fussed over the fact that they had no record of her, period.

The fact that they hadn't been more disturbed by this was enough to tell Pyrrha that Special Investigations had an idea of what was going on in the world, and so when Rawlins had finally dragged her into this room to talk, she'd spilled the beans. She told him everything about her situation and how it had lead her to the factory and what had destroyed it, leaving out Harry and his friends for the most part.

The entire tail took only a few minutes to share, and Pyrrha marveled at how fast events had transpired over two days. It felt like months had passed since she woke up in that alley, but it hadn't even been a week!

When she finished her tale, Rawlins took a moment to stare into his cup of coffee, before taking a long draw of it, and setting it down with a resounding clack. He wiped at his lips with a napkin, and gave Pyrrha a level look.

"Do you honestly expect a story like that to fool anyone, kid?"

Pyrrha blinked, "Well… no. Because I'm not trying to fool you, officer."

Rawlins laughed, "Haha! Damn, how do you do that?"

"Do...what?" she asked.

"Sound so damn sincere? Either you're high as a kite, or there's some truth to that tail of yours. Honestly, I'm not sure which would be more amazing at this point."

Admittedly, it did seem a little… Well, completely insane when she had repeated it to him, so Pyrrha could understand his stance. Still…

"I am telling the truth, officer. You know I have no records, and I'm not exactly dressed like how most people in this city dress, and I'm clearly in control of my faculties. What would it take to convince you?"

Rawlins chuckled and took another sip of his mug, "Heh, a signed confession from God maybe?"

"...Well, I can't get that. I could always call Mr. Dresden though."

The big man spart up his drink coughing, and looked at Pyrrha with renewed interest, "Wait, wait. You know Dresden?"

"Well...yes. He's the man who rescued me, I thought I mentioned that?"

Rawlins leaned back in his chair and clapped a hand on his head, "Well shoot, that sounds like him, now that I think about it. Why didn't you mention him earlier?"

Pyrrha shrugged, "He said he wasn't on good terms with the authorities. I didn't want to get him in trouble."

Harry had done good things for Pyrrha, and dragging him into her mess didn't feel right. But if she was arrested, well that would make things worse for everyone involved. Rawlins narrowed his eyes at Pyrrha for a long minute. She fidgeted in place, twiddling her thumbs together. Over the past hour her energy had slowly returned, and her whole body tingled now, it was a disturbingly pleasant feeling. The plus side was, she didn't have a half ton of lead metaphorically holding her down anymore.

Rawlins drummed his fingers on the table once, and closed his eyes with a sigh, "You're telling the truth, damn it. This is going to make things complicated."

"Complicated?"

"You were the only person found at the scene of a bombing of city property. Granted, it was an abandoned mill no one was doing anything with, but a bomb still went off, and your explanation won't fly with the higher ups. If Harry is involved, then that'll just throw more fuel to the fire. We'd be up a creek without a paddle under ordinary circumstances. However…"

Rawlins trailed off and stared at the wall with wide eyes.

"Sir?" Pyrrha asked.

The lights in the room suddenly began to flicker, and a camera hidden on the ceiling let out a shrill beep before it exploded into a shower of sparks. Pyrrha stood so fast her chair toppled over; she tensed against her handcuffs, ready to shatter them at a moment's notice. The lights flickered again once more, then shut off with a click, shrouding it in darkness. Pyrrha took a cautious step back, and carefully scanned the room.

"Do not be afraid, child." a voice said. It was a woman's voice, though it sounded off, as though multiple people were talking at the same time.

"Who's there? What did you do?" Pyrrha demanded.

The voice spoke, "Please, there is no need for rudeness. I mean you no harm, I merely sought to give us a measure of privacy."

"If you mean no harm, then you'd show yourself." Pyrrha shot back.

The voice sighed, "Very well." and a ball of light illuminated itself over the table, filling the room with a harsh light and hard shadows.

The air in front of Pyrrha shimmered and peeled away to reveal a figure in a long black robe and oversized mantle that hid their face. Pyrrha almost jumped the figure on the spot, and only stopped herself at the last second when she made out the details. This person was noticeably shorter than the robed man, with a figure that was more feminine despite the heavy robes they wore.

When they spoke, it confirmed that this was not the same person, "Ah, yes. I apologize Ms. Nikos, I should have warned you of my… similar appearance to my colleague. He likely left a less than… positive impression on you."

The woman's voice was the same as the one that had been speaking a moment ago. But that hardly put Pyrrha at east. She stepped behind the table, keeping it between her and the woman.

"Who are you?" Pyrrha demanded, again. "How do you know my name, and why have you been summoning Grimm to this world?"

The woman stared at Pyrrha, and even so, her face was impossible to make out. She sighed again and said, "You may call me Kumori, Ms. Nikos. My compatriot is known as Cowl, and we have been watching your world for a very long time. Your accomplishments were most impressive, you should be proud, your reputation precedes you. As for the Grimm, that is a matter most… complicated."

"Enlighten me." Pyrrha said, dryly. She was tired and a bit cranky, mind games were the last thing she wanted to deal with.

Kumori shrugged, "It would be difficult for you to understand without proper context, and I do not have the time to explain. All I have time to say is that our intentions may appear malicious, but we only wish the best for both your world and ours, even if the process will be… dangerous."

Pyrrha didn't buy that for a second, but didn't immediately voice that thought. A small part of her realized that this woman, for better or worse, had no intention of harming Pyrrha, yet. She seemed quite open to discussion, something that Pyrrha should take advantage of; there were far too many questions to be answered, but she could knock a few out right now.

"Alright then, Kumori," she said, slowly. "Say I believe you. What do you want with me? Why are you here?"

"Isn't it obvious? I am here to offer you a way home."

Pyrrha's breath caught and she froze. A way home, an honest to goodness way home? She had seen the portal in the steel mill, that man Cowl obviously knew how to open portals between worlds. And Kumori was offering that to her? It seemed far too good an offer to be true.

She swallowed, "W-why? How?"

Kumori shook her head and leaned her arms on the table. Her voice grew softer, almost normal, when she spoke. "Because, you are not meant to be here. You have a place in your world, on Remnant. Earth was never meant for beings like you, as Remnant is not fit for beings like me. I offer you this as a gesture of goodwill and kindness. Please, take it, you may not get such an offer again…"

It was tempting, it truly was. Harry hadn't the foggiest idea how the Blackstones worked or how to get Pyrrha home, and she _knew_ that Jaune was waiting for her, as were the rest of her friends. How long had she really been gone, weeks, months, years? There was no way to know, until now. She could go home, reunite with her friends and family…

And all she would have to do is leave Earth to its fate. Abandon Harry, the Alphas, Butters, and… and Murphy. She would have to abandon the new friends she had started to make on Earth, leave them to the Grimm.

Pyrrha swallowed and looked at Kumori, "What happens to the others if I left? To Harry, and the others?"

Kumori almost seemed to tense for a moment, a gesture almost invisible. Almost.

"Dresden is… unique. We have no desire to see him come to harm. If you leave, I promise he will not be harmed. As for the others, in events like this you must understand that-"

"No." Pyrrha interrupted.

Kumori paused, "I… sorry, no?"

Pyrrha scowled at the woman, "You heard me. No. I have no interest in your offer Kumori. You come using Black Magic on an innocent man, admitting that you're working with a man that almost killed me, and that you're bringing the Grimm here? What did you expect me to say?"

Kumor straightened to her full height, and the light began to dim, "I see. That is a pity, Ms. Nikos. I had hoped you would prove wiser than this, but I suppose I had too much faith in you. Know that I regret this action."

"What are you-" Pyrrha gasped as she felt a foreign presence push its way into the confines of her mind, reaching for her most recent memories. The vile thing almost connected with them, until that familiar wall of ice slammed down around the borders of her mind. Kumori and Pyrrha staggered away from each other, the former letting out a yell of surprise.

Pyrrha hit the wall and pushed herself off it, rounding the table and grabbing Kumori by her cloak and hoisting her into the air. She tried to say something threatening or intimidating, but the words came out a slurred mess.

Kumori grabbed Pyrrha's arms and hissed, "We will see each other again soon, Huntress, and you will regret your choice!"

There was a flash of light and Kumori vanished, leaving Pyrrha holding thin air. The lights flickered back on, and the camera stopped sparking. Rawlins groaned and rubbed at his temples, "Ugh, sorry about that, must've...spaced out…"

Rawlins looked at the empty seat in front of him, then where Pyrrha stood, with her handcuffs broken and still grasping at the air. She let her arms drop to her sides and sighed.

"Is there any chance I can get that phone call I've heard about?"

* * *

Pyrrha thanked her luck that she had been stuck with Rawlins if only briefly. He had agreed to Pyrrha's request and taken her to the station phone without asking a question. She had a feeling those would come later, but for now she was just glad he seemed to believe her. Harry's name had more sway than he'd let on.

Though, speaking of Harry, now came the hard part. Pyrrha punched Harry's number in and waited through several rings before the phone was picked up, by the last person that she had expected.

"Thank you for calling the Dresden residence, this is Bonnie speaking, how can I help you?"

Pyrrha blinked and stared at the phone, "Bonnie? How are you...when...why…? Nevermind. Listen, it's Pyrrha."

Bonnie let out a happy gasp, "Oh, Pyrrha! I was so worried, you didn't come back, didn't call, I was worried I'd have to wake up dad and tell him, but don't worry, he did that himself!"

Pyrrha smiled despite the situation, "Well, I'm alright Bonnie, just… wait, what do you mean he 'did that himself'?"

"Oh, right! After you left, dad woke up and asked me if I knew where you went. I told him like you asked me to. I think he got excited because he turned all red and started stuttering!"

Pyrrha felt the blood drain from her face with every word out of the young spirits mouth, "Oh… I see. That's… great news Bonnie. Um, quick question. How long ago did Harry leave the house?"

"Oh about thirty minutes, give or take." a voice said from behind her.

The phone slipped from Pyrrha's hand and she slowly turned around. Standing at the doorway, was Harry Dresden, dressed in his big duster and with his staff in hand. Rawlins stood next to him and gave her a sympathetic look.

Harry tapped his staff against the floor and took a deep breath, "So, Pyrrha," he said, through clenched teeth.

"How's your night been?"

* * *

 **A/N: Short chapter I know. When I had this scene planned out, it was going to be much more violent, but I realized we've had enough really big action scenes lately. Next chapter or two will have a bit of action, but compared to the previous chapter it'll be nothing. We'll be getting a Dresden File soon, but thats neither here nor there.**

 **Anyway, lots of plot stuff here, and for future reference, this chapter will probably see more rewriting in the future, so keep an eye out for that. Hope Kumori's appearance helped clear up any confusion over whether or not that was Cowl who appeared working on the Blackstones.**

 **Update time! As finals are coming up over the next few weeks, I have a sad announcement to make. I'm going on hiatus until December 14-16th. No new chapters for either this story or Conflicting Perspectives (Shameless plugging, read that!) until my finals are done. Once they're out of the way, I'll hop right back on and really churn these suckers out.**

 **I'll still be here for answering questions and what not, just no new content. Sorry folks, please don't murder me!**


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Harry marched Pyrrha out of the CPD building onto the front steps of the building. He'd hardly said a word since his sudden appearance, choosing only to glare, grunt, and gesture when he wanted her to do something. The police let her go after he showed up, and returned her equipment. Most of the cops made sure to clear the path of the grumpy six and a half foot tall wizard. Pyrrha mutely followed him out of the building, feeling like a child caught by her parents.

It was still night, but along the horizon, light was beginning to show. In an hour or so, Chicago would awaken again and be as busy as ever. For now though, the streets and sidewalks were relatively empty still.

The Beetle was parked in front of the building, and Murphy leaned against it with her arms crossed. The expression she wore was one half disappointment, one half-exhaustion, and all irritation. Pyrrha winced and ducked her head; this was a night that had spiraled out of hand rather quickly.

Harry walked around to the driver side door and tossed her pack of weapons in the back and grunted, "Get in the car."

"Harry, I can-"

He slammed his staff against the ground once, and Pyrrha felt the faint tingle of power in the air that set lights across the block flickering. Pyrrha gulped, "Yes sir." and meekly sat in the passenger seat with her hands in her lap.

Harry got in, slammed the driverside door shut and took a deep breath. The steering wheel creaked in his grip for a moment, then Harry exhaled a mouthful of frost.

"I thought you were smarter than that Pyrrha. Running off to do lord knows what and getting arrested!? That's crap I'd expect from anyone else but you. Do you have any idea how worried I was when I saw you were gone?! This isn't your world, there are things out there that would kill you without a second thought if you go off alone like that! So unless you want to spend the rest of your time here locked up in the apartment, you'd better make a damn good argument in the next ten seconds."

"The Gatekeeper left a message in my mind telling me to investigate that address, and I know who is behind the Grimm attacks now. I think." Pyrrha said without missing a beat. Harry had a right to his anger, but Pyrrha had her own counter to it.

Harry paused and set his mouth in a firm line. From the backseat, Murphy spoke up, "That's… a pretty good reason."

He glared at her, then sighed, "Alright Pyrrha. I'm listening."

Pyrrha explained the message she saw in her dreams (leaving out the bit about her subconscious and her encounter with Jaune, for now) and how the Gatekeeper had advised her to investigate alone. She briefly explained her encounter with Emerald and Mercury and the ensuing fight that destroyed the Blackstones and the steel mill, and how after she was arrested, Kumori made her appearance and offer that Pyrrha had swiftly refused.

When she finished, Harry's face had grown pale and his grip tightened on the steering wheel again. Murphy was the first to speak, "You still could have told us Pyrrha. We could've hung back or something, acted as backup. Charging off like that alone is a good way to get yourself hurt."

On that last bit, she glared at Harry for a brief moment. If he noticed the expression, he made no sign of it. He let go of the steering wheel and rest his face in his hands where he let out a tired groan of "Oh god, why did it have to be them?"

"It seemed like they knew you." Pyrrha admitted. "And they don't want you getting involved."

"That's because last time I got involved with Cowl, I dropped a truck on him and made his ritual blow up in his face. He's a very powerful Necromancer, and if he's the one behind the Grimm, then the shit hit the fan a long time ago."

Pyrrha frowned, "I don't understand, why does his presence change anything?"

"Because if Cowl is involved, then it means the Black Council is definitely involved in this."

She stared at him blankly. Harry sighed, "It's basically the anti-White Council. They've been causing trouble all over the world for years, and each time their plot is bigger and crazier than the last. I barely stopped them from wiping out the midwestern United States last time. I guess planetary extinction would be the next logical step."

Pyrrha shook her head, "I don't understand how anyone could be like that."

"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Murphy spoke up, "What I want to know, is how they learned how to open holes in dimensions in the first place. Bob said these things are way over our heads."

"A lot of things are." Harry said.

"Yes, but if Cowl and Kumori are that smart, why not do this years ago? Or just pull off the big ritual first?"

"Black Magic induced insanity? A need for dramatic tension? All of the above?" Harry suggested.

Murphy shook her head. "I don't think so. Someone else is involved in this that woman Pyrrha mentioned that they were trying to open the portal for. What did you say her name was, Pyrrha?"

It hurt to try and recall the memory, but Pyrrha did, suppressing the pain for the moment. "I… I think they said her name was Cinder. Yes, definitely Cinder."

Murphy looked at Harry; he was already grabbing his keys and struggling to turn the Beetle on, while cursing up a storm. "Shit, shit shit shit!"

"What? What's going on?" Pyrrha asked.

The engine stuttered and almost died again, then clicked and roared to life. Harry flung the Beetle into reverse and spun his tires trying to get out of the parking lot. They all jerked forward from the motion, and when she sat back up, Murphy said, "When Harry stopped at Mac's, he ran into a woman who claimed to know something about the Grimm attacks. Said her name was Cinder, and he gave her his number."

"You did what!?"

"It wouldn't have been a problem if you hadn't gone running off like that!" Harry yelled.

"Yes it would! They were going to summon her at the mill, if I hadn't interrupted it!"

The Beetle went skidding around a corner and down the street, its little engine roaring in protest. Harry grit his teeth as they drove, "I stole a few of her hairs when we were talking, I was going to use it to track her in the morning if she never called."

"Do you think she could track the phone line?" Pyrrha asked.

Harry's knuckles went white, "No idea, but we're about to find out. Do you know anything else about her? Near I could tell, she had a faint talent for magic, but that's it."

Pyrrha thought for a moment, "Um, yes. Mercury and Emerald both mentioned that when she went through the portal the first time, it cut off her most of her power. The way they talked about it, it seems this was right before she ran into you."

Harry cursed, "Son of a bitch."

"I warned you Dresden." Murphy said.

"Not now Murphy!"

The car fell into a rough silence after that, and with Harry breaking every major traffic law in Chicago, they reached his apartment in record time, practically sailing into the parking garage and leaving the Beetle hastily parked in front of the entrance to the complex. The security guard up front was missing, which was not a good sign.

Harry shoved open the doors with a bang, and they ran down the halls to his apartment. He waved a hasty hand over the door and cursed again. "Wards are down. Someone broke in."

"Wards?"

"Not now." Harry hissed, grabbed the handle. He slowly rotated it until it clicked, and eased the door open. The hall lights spilled into the cavernous apartment. Harry reached in and tried to flick on the lights.

No dice, his apartment remained silent.

Grabbing his staff tightly, Harry took a few steps inside, motioning for Pyrrha and Murphy to follow. Pyrrha stepped inside and took a look around. With no windows leading outside, the apartment was eerily dark, practically filled with an unnatural presence. In fact, it almost felt as if someone was breathing down her throat.

She took several steps inside, and felt something roll under her foot. Pyrrha looked down, and all the blood drained from her face.

"Harry!"

The wizard stopped and turned to face her, "What?"

Without a word, Pyrrha pointed at her foot, which was resting on the largest feather he had ever seen, nearly four feet long and pitch black. Harry gulped and turned back around to face the inside of his apartment. That feeling returned and Pyrrha realized it wasn't a result of fried nerves, it was an actual breeze inside his apartment, one that moved in a steady rhythm, like...like, breathing.

Coupled with the feather, Pyrrha immediately realized what it was, and said very softly, "Oh shit."

The darkness before them shifted and groaned, unfolding before their very eyes. Wings brushed against either side of the cavernous apartment walls, feathers drifted to the floor, and gleaming white talons scraped against the tile floor. The beast's head almost seemed to roll into view, given a crude glowing outline from the lights Harry had flicked on. It's beak was as dark as its feathers, but a bone white mask covered its face, and when it turned its head to the side, it revealed two fiery red eyes that glared at them.

Harry took a step back, "Um, Pyrrha…? What is that?"

Pyrrha did the same and swallowed nervously, "That is a very old Nevermore."

"Should we fight it?"

It lowered its beak until it was practically eye level with them, and screeched. Every light in the apartment promptly shattered, and Harry was almost blown off his feet. Pyrrha and Murhpy caught him by the arms and hoisted him back to his feet as the Nevermore shut its beak with an ominous snap.

"No, no we should not."

* * *

They were lucky the Nevermore had appeared inside Harry's apartment, the doorway stopped the gigantic raven from pursuing them immediately, as only its beak could fit through. Its thrashing and cries of frustration were strong enough that the entire building shuddered and groaned ominously. The hall lights flickered as Harry and Murphy ran down the hall and out into the garage where they'd left the Beetle parked.

Murphy cursed with every step through clenched teeth until they reached the Beetle, where she leaned over, panting. "I didn't...take my… medication this morning… everything hurts…"

"Don't worry," Harry assured her, "No more running for… hey, where'd Pyrrha go!?"

The building shook again, followed by a an angry cry from inside. They both looked down the hall, right as a blur of red and bronze came careening out of the exit and slammed into the side of the Beetle with enough force to send it skittering sideways through the lot.

"Holy shit!" Murphy cursed.

The Beetle rocked onto two wheels, then crashed back onto all four with a shudder. Pyrrha slumped out of the new dent she'd formed in the side of the car's chassis, and rubbed her head.

"That was... unexpected."

Before Harry or Murphy had time to ask what she meant, their answer came striding through the doorway. The creature that emerged was unlike any Grimm that they'd seen. At first glance, it looked like a giant… ostrich? Yes, an ostrich from the deepest depths of hell. It was over nine feet tall and pitch black, save for a row of razorsharp, bone white quills that ran down its spine, and a collar of bone around its neck. Its leathery neck and legs rippled with muscle, and its razor-sharp talons gleamed. Its entire face was as white as its quills, with a wickedly curved beak that was as long as Harry's forearm. It had a cluster of three eyes on either side of its head, and a singular red eye in the center of its forehead.

"What. The Fuck. Is that?!" Murphy screamed.

The colossal bird was flanked on either side by its identical twins, each as powerful and demonic looking as their brother. Their heads swiveled from Pyrrha to Murphy and Harry, and they shrieked. The sound was nowhere near as deafening as the Nevermores, but it was still effective in its attempt to evacuate the bowels of any and all living creatures present.

"Forzare!"

Harry though, was far from impressed.

A wave of invisible force knocked the three oversized birds across the garage. Two of them fell on their sides, but the third landed on its feet, leaving deep claw marks in the concrete as it ground to a halt and shrieked at Harry again.

From within the depths of the apartment, the Ancient Nevermore shrieked in response and began to thrash once more. Something in the building cracked, and the entire garage shuddered, spilling dust onto the trio.

"Harry!" Pyrrha cried, "We need to get out of here before it drops the whole building on us!"

They didn't spare her a look, instead running for the car as fast as they could. The bird-Grimm squawked and charged after them in its rolling two legged gallop. It easily crossed the distance between them and seconds, only for Pyrrha to pull her shield from the back of the bug and fling it at the bird's neck. It fell onto its side and skid past them into the far wall of the garage and immediately began flopping around in an attempt to right itself.

"What are those things?!" Murphy gasped.

Pyrrha gulped, "No idea, I've never seen them before in my life."

"Wait, what!?" Harry yelped, "How could you not-"

Another tremor shook the building, and sent a chunk of concrete falling between the three of them. Pyrrha sent Harry a look, "Is this really the time?!"

"...Point taken, everyone into the Beetle." Harry ordered.

With the building threatening to come down on them, this was no place for an extended fight. They needed to either lose the Grimm and come back with reinforcements, or at least move to more wide open space without the looming threat of a falling building. These new Grimm were too fast to outrun on foot, so the car was their best option.

Speaking of, the other two that Harry blasted earlier, had returned to their feet and began encircling the trio, heads low to the ground and feet silently padding across the floor. In a more forested environment, they'd never hear them coming. Seeing them however, was easy.

Harry projected his shield in a dome around them and the car, as Murphy pulled at the car door. This was about the time when the Nevermore screeched again and sent another violent quake through the building. The garage ceiling shuddered and groaned as a dozen spiderweb cracks spread through the ceiling. A moment later, an entire section of the garage came crashing down on the trio.

His shield flared under the impact and held for a moment, before the sheer weight broke it and brought the ceiling crashing down. They scattered as it fell, kicking up dirt and dust in the ensuing collapse. Pyrrha brushed shoot out of her eyes as the dust cleared and revealed a wall of concrete that had formed from the rubble, cutting the garage almost in half.

Harry coughed out a lungful of dust and gasped, "Murphy!?"

"I'm okay Harry!" she called from the other side, "Take the Beetle and go, I'll catch up!"

"What!? Are you insane!?"

She coughed, "No, but the Grimm are only on your side, so hurry! I'll be fine, I swear!"

Harry looked at the wall and at the exit where the Grimm waited for them. He looked back at the wall again with reluctance, then grabbed his staff and pushed himself back up. "Alright, but I'll hold you to that promise!"

The third Grimm that had crashed into the far side of the wall finally got its legs under itself and stood up, hissing at Pyrrha and Harry. The wizard hurried into the Beetle and the engine roared to life on the first turn of the key. Pyrrha grabbed the door with her Semblance and peeled the wreckage away.

"Go go!" she yelled before she event hit the seat.

There was no need to tell Harry twice. The whole of the building shook from the Nevermore again, as Harry put the pedal to the metal, and hauled ass out of the garage. The bird-Grimm squawked and loped after them at a disturbing speed. The wooden crossguard at the entrance snapped against the Beetles bumper, and they rocked out onto the main Chicago street in a shower of sparks, with three very angry Grimm on their tales.

Pyrrha hung herself out the side of the Beetle to watch behind them, right as the first two came speeding out of the exit without breaking stride. The third leapt out of the building and crashed through a bus station before joining them. Harry shifted and gunned the Beetle down the street.

Good thing to, because it was at that moment the outer wall of the apartment complex promptly exploded, and the Ancient Nevermore plodded into the street. It looked after the Beetle and screeched again, before finally unfurling its wings to their full length. The Grimm was so large that the tips of its wings brushed against either side of the street, and one flap of its wings sent a whirlwind barreling down the street.

Pyrrha flung herself back in the relative safety of the Beetle as it passed, tearing at her hair as it did. It was only then that Pyrrha noticed they were short one person, "Wait, where's Murphy!?"

Harry cursed as he struggled to keep the Beetle under control, "She stayed behind! Debris separated us, but she should be fine!"

He spared a glance out his window and went pale, "Besides, we've got bigger problems!"

Keeping pace with the Beetle was one of the Grimm, it's pale beak lowered next to the window and glaring at them. The moment Harry noticed it, it shrieked and thrust its head through the window. Harry barely avoided having his arms ripped off, the enchanted leather of his duster protecting them from the Grimm's beak, and let out a surprised yell.

In the cramped quarters of the bug, Pyrrha didn't have any room to maneuver, so she reacted to the Grimm in a simpler manner. She bashed it over the head with her shield until its mask cracked and it retreated with a squawk of indignation, stumbling drunkenly next to the car. They hit a turn just then, and the Grimm barreled into the Beetle and went flying head over heels into the building beyond them. It didn't get up, and began to evaporate.

One down, three to go.

The next made its presence known on Pyrrha's side, practically body slamming the Beetle and knocking it on two wheels. Pyrrha focused her Semblance, as exhausted as it was, and managed to force the Beetle back down onto four with a jarring impact. The Grimm hissed and jabbed its head at Pyrrha several times, but she smacked it away with her shield until it tried to snap its jaws around her arm. She reached into the back of the car with her free hand for Milo

Again, it got a mouthful of shield that forced its jaws open. Pyrrha yelled and pushed hard, and it's jaw snapped. The oversized bird made a confused noise its lower jaw flapped about uselessly with each of its long striding steps, and didn't get to comprehend its injury for long.

A burst of bullets slammed into its flank and upper legs, making it screech in surprise and tumble to the ground in a cloud of black smoke until it was no more. Pyrrha blinked at that, confused by the sudden assistance.

Until she heard the familiar roar of a motorcycle engine, and Karrin Murphy came roaring up alongside the Beetle, a box shaped submachine gun in held tightly in one hand and the other on the handlebars. She smiled at Pyrrha and Harry and gave them a little salute, and despite the situation, Pyrrha smiled back.

That was two Grimm left, another of those odd birds, and the-

The air vibrated an another earth shaking screech filled the air, sending tremors through the entirety of the street. The Ancient Nevermore flew by overhead, a dark shadow against the cloudy sky. Lights were starting to flicker on across Chicago, as people were reasonably wondering what in the hell was making all that racket.

"Um, Pyrrha!?" Harry was looking through his windshield with a dumbstruck expression as the Nevermore easily overtook them and kept on going.

Pyrrha realized what it was going to do moments too late. She only had time to shout a single warning of "Get down!" before the colossal monster seemed to twist around in mid-air with its wings spread to their fullest, and thrusting them forward to unleash a hailstorm of spear-like feathers.

Harry jerked the car wheel to the side, sending the Beetle into a slide that presented its intact side to the feathers. Several scraped off its steel shell, but just as many impaled themselves on the car's chassis. There was a loud pop and the car promptly turned on its side. Pyrrha didn't have her seatbelt on and felt herself lift out of her seat for a moment, until the car hit the ground with a shriek of steel on metal, and she went flying out of it onto the street.

Pyrrha rolled across the floor and barely got her legs under her to stumble to a stop. Her shield, somehow, was still in her hand, and her sword had embedded itself into the ground nearby. That was one piece of good luck. The rest however…

The Beetle had come to a halt, and through the fractured windshield, Harry seemed to be unharmed. He'd likely thrown up a shield at the last second that saved him from the worst of the crash. Murphy, on her motorcycle though…

Pyrrha didn't see how it started, but she could guess.

When the feathers, each as sharp and deadly as a sword, came raining down on them, Murphy had probably tried to maneuver through them, and might have succeeded. But with her injuries to her arm and leg, and seeing the Beetle crash, she hadn't been able to maintain the reaction times she'd need to survive the barrage.

So, Pyrrha never saw the initial loss of control, but she saw the immediate aftermath. By sheer luck, Murphy didn't get caught by the motorcycles crash, instead being flung free of the bike. The landing would've been bad, but she'd have come out okay… But she landed hard and rolled into a parking meter, hitting her midsection on the steel beam.

There was a loud crack, a snap…

And Pyrrha screamed in rage.

All rational thought was gone, replaced with a river of boiling rage that coursed through her veins. Pyrrha screamed and whirled to face the Nevermore. The colossal bird landed in front of Pyrrha and matched her scream with a screech of its own.

Murphy had been the nicest person Pyrrha had met on Earth, a friend to her that had supported her and had offered her shoulder to cry on should Pyrrha need it. There were few people Pyrrha could consider friends in her life, and the few she had were left on Remnant. Murphy had stepped in and filled the void, and now there was a good chance she was dead because of Pyrrha.

No, not her, but the Grimm, the Nevermore, it was to blame, and Pyrrha was going to make it pay!

She felt the instrument of her vengeance everywhere, all around her. Chicago was a city of steel, and in this early morning, the city itself would be her instrument of revenge.

The ground shook and a dozen sewer lines broke from the ground and snaked around the Nevermore faster than the eye could track. It squawked in surprise as its legs and wings were bound by iron and steel and the sheer will of Pyrrha. Once, she had believed herself too exhausted to use her Semblance without hurting herself, but rage was one hell of an anesthetic.

As her body and soul screamed in protest against the strain she put it under, Pyrrha tightened her grip on the Nevermore, until only its head could move. Once she was satisfied that it was secure, she picked up her sword and charged.

Miló transformed into its spear mode, and in three bounding leaps, Pyrrha launched herself at the Nevermore. She was vaguely aware she was screaming, and that there were tears in her eyes.

The Nevermore swiveled its head toward her as Pyrrha leaped at the beast and…

In one smooth motion, whipped forward and snapped its jaws around the furious redheaded warrior, and swallowed her whole.

 **A/N: I lied. No hiatus for me, I could not keep myself away from this story. All that said, expect some rewriting of this chapter when my editor gets his claws on it, and in the next chapter, we're going over to Dresdens perspective.**

 **Expect copious amounts of fire.**

 **After that though, things are going to settle out until about chapter 30. No action scenes, no huge plot revelations. Things went from bad to worse in the blink of an eye, which was exactly my intent. For those wondering about the Nevermore, this one was older than the one RWBY fought back in volume 1, and as I am a firm hater of the Worf Effect, there is, in Remnant, a distinct difference between those and the kind that Coco slaughtered in that pathetic excuse for a finale we got in volume 2.**

 **Anyway, I'll see when I can crank out chapter 27, as its gonna be an interesting one, as several very big things will unfold, as the world of RWBY finally merges with the Dresdenverse in a way you guys have been begging for months.**

 **Until then!**


	28. Chapter 27

There's a time and there's a place for subtlety, for carefully planned strategies and long term thinking. It keeps you from doing incredibly stupid things that might haunt you for the rest of your life, and possibly hurt those closest to you in the process. But you know what? Fuck subtlety, and fuck the consequences.

' _Forzare!'_

The roof of the Beetle flew off the car like a rocket, propelled by an invisible wave of force from my blasting rod, and I pulled myself from the wreckage of my car, seething with barely contained rage. For the first time in a long time, I felt in complete agreement with the Mantle of the Winter Knight. The Grimm that was trapped in front of me had hurt my friends, my girls, and that. Was. Unacceptable.

Around me, in the early morning night, lights were beginning to flicker on across apartments from the sound of the Nevermore shrieking in enraged fury. It wouldn't be long before the public became aware of it. I found it very hard to give a shit.

The last of the smaller Ostrich-like Grimm can bounding across the street towards me. I thrust my staff at it without looking, and snarled, ' _Gravitus!'_

The bird took a step forward, and was promptly flattened into paste under its own weight. Little bits of rubble briefly floated into the air as gravity was redirected into crushing it under several dozen times Earth's normal gravity, before the spell ended and they fell back to the ground. It squawked pathetically, but I ignored it and continued to stride forward at the Nevermore.

It turned a hateful red eye on me and hissed, raising its wings and puffing out its chest as it did. I stopped twenty feet away from it and took a deep breath. My staff creaked under the grip of my hand, and I ground my teeth together.

I took a glance over at Murphy's wrecked motorcycle, and her motionless form lying nearby. The picture quickly grew blurry, and I felt a burning hot sensation deep within me. I didn't feel the tranquil fury of winter, but the raging inferno of my own anger and frustration, and I grabbed hold of it. The heat quickly spread across my chest and my arms and legs, into the very tips of my fingers. My vision turned red and I let out my pent up breath, releasing a cloud of steam.

There was a snap, and I turned my gaze back on the Nevermore. The pipes that Pyrrha had trapped it in were beginning to give way under its mass, it wouldn't stay put for long. It didn't need to.

I took my staff in both hands and pointed it at the oversized raven, and let my rage go.

" _FUEGO! PYRO FUEGO! BURN YOU SON OF A BITCH, BURN!"_

I can't say I've ever produced a fire spell so intense or so large in my life. There have been brief moments in the past before where I'd grown close, but the sheer size of the fire ball I unleashed trumped them all.

Nearly as large as the Nevermore itself, it shrieked in terrified horror as fire that burned as hot as the sun ripped the feathers from its flesh, and seared it to the very bone. Steel and iron pipelines were reduced to molten metal that ran in rivers of shimmering steel onto the concrete. The Chicago night was briefly illuminated brighter than day, by a fire few mortals would ever see in their lifetime.

And the fucking bird was still alive when I released the spell. It fell onto its wings into scorching hot tar that had once been asphalt, and shrieked at me. Its feathers were ashes, and its skull was as dark as its hide. Its eyes sizzled and dripped from their sockets, but the monster was still alive.

I screamed my anger at it and released the spell again, dousing it with the fires of creation. The fire came out a more focused blast this time, slamming into the Nevermore's head with an explosive impact. It had time to screech in agony for a brief moment, before the silvery flames ripped its head to ash.

When I released the spell again, the air was shimmering with heat, and several small fires had spread along the street. The battered and burned body of the Nevermore slowly went limp and fell to one side, collapsing to ground in a heap in front of me in a bone-shaking crash. Its body began to slowly evaporate a moment later.

I stared at its corpse for a long minute, before the fruit of my labor finally caught up with me, and a wave of exhaustion promptly flattened me. I slowly fell back onto my ass, never taking my eyes off the dead Nevermore. It was gone, it was dead, it couldn't hurt anyone else anymore.

But it had done enough…

The street was in utter chaos, cars overturned, building edifices scorched or shattered, the road melted to tar, and a dozen small fires littered the sidewalks. That wasn't even getting into the personal cost of putting that thing down. Cold dread kept me from looking over at where Karrin lay, a palpable sense of fear that gripped at my heart and rapidly cooled my already spent rage. I could only bring myself to glare hatefully at the Nevermores desiccated corpse, and pray for the other victim it had taken.

As if sensing my thoughts, its chest suddenly jerked and the whole creature shuddered. I scrambled to my feet and took my staff in two shaky hands. If the blaze I'd unleashed on this oversized turkey wasn't enough, I'd have to find another way to make sure it stayed down. I began gathering what little magical energy I had left and prepared another spell.

That was when its chest jerked again, and split apart against the touch of a crimson red blade that emerged from within. My staff clattered to the ground and I fell to my knees, and felt a few tears in my eyes. If I weren't so exhausted, I'd have helped her cut open the birds slowly disintegrating chest. But, she seemed to manage on her own.

In less than a minute, a long narrow gash formed down the center of the Nevermores belly and promptly burst apart, spilling the contents of its stomach onto the rapidly cooling tar. Namely, Pyrrha Nikos.

She emerged feet first and stumbled on the sludge and fell onto the cooler road I hadn't melted. A clear, viscous, mucus, covered her from head to toe, and anything not touched by her armor was a pale shade of red, like a light sunburn. Several patches of her skin were raw and she had her eyes and mouth clenched tight with a hand over her nose. The goop was already beginning to evaporate, like the body it came from, but not fast enough.

With her other hand, Pyrrha wiped the gunk from her face and took in a gasp of air, then collapsed onto the ground. If the movies were to be believed, she probably would've cut herself free with no problem at all. But a stomach is a dank, dark place, filled with a dozen acids meant to literally dissolve any living matter that gets shoved into it. I couldn't imagine what it would be like in a Grimm's stomach, though the sizzling smoke that rose from the ground around Pyrrha gave me an idea.

Pyrrha took another big gulp of air and blinked her bloodshot eyes open, and focused on the ground passed me. I steeled myself and looked behind me again, at Karrin, broken against the parking meter. Her legs were twisted in a way legs should not twist, and I could see every tiny detail on her face, from the torn skin, to the blood dripping from her mouth, to the deadening look in her eyes. She was thirty feet away at least, but I could make out all those details in perfect clarity.

"Murphy, no…" Pyrrha croaked, and began dragging herself across the ground to her.

I followed, my legs numbly carrying me over, even though I didn't want to see this. I'd seen a dozen worse cases than the road-rash Karrin had suffered from, but none of them had been a face I'd known. None of them had been Karrin's face.

My walk brought me to her first, and I collapsed next to her body, that I wanted to cradle close to my chest, t hold her tight and give her some form of comfort in the last moments of life. Her own chest looked like its side had been caved, I could see something sharp and sticky pointing out beneath her chest.

"Karrin…" my voice felt came out as a raw croak.

"I'm so sorry…" Pyrrha whimpered. I looked up and saw her on the other side of me with tears in her eyes.

The fire returned and I scowled at her, "Stop fucking apologizing, it doesn't fix anything, and it certainly won't fix Karrin!"

She flinched as if I'd struck her, but for the life of me, I couldn't find any guilt in my words. Pyrrha decided to run off and almost get herself killed, and because of that, we had to abandon the apartment so Cowl and his lackeys could do who knows what to it, and now Karrin would probably die on the street. Saying 'sorry' wasn't going to make it fucking better.

I expected my words to silence her, maybe to give us some piece. Pyrrha was a fighter, but emotionally, what had been done to her had not made her entirely stable. She was getting better, but snapping at her would be enough.

But for one miraculous moment in my life, Pyrrha didn't let my words bind. No, instead I saw a fire erupt behind those bright green eyes of her, the same fire I'd seen in every fight with her so far. She clenched her hands into fists and said, "You're right, it won't save Murphy. But maybe this will."

I saw her reach her hand forward toward Karrin, and without thinking, grabbed her wrist. She in turn, grabbed my hand and almost casually twisted it out of its socket, "Harry, I know you're concerned right now. But if you interfere, what happens will be entirely your fault. Let me work."

There was a tone in her voice I'd heard only once in twice, that steely determination that betrayed her youthful exterior. Reluctantly, I withdrew and stayed silent. Happy that I was keeping my distance, Pyrrha carefully straightened Karrin without jostling her, and placed one hand at the center of the sternum, while placing the other on her cheek, spreading her fingers wide.

Pyrrha took a deep breath, and spoke in a somber tone, "Karrin Murphy, I have seen your potential as a warrior, your strength and courage. You have sacrificed much for the good of others, a brilliant light against the darkness. I ask now, with the last of your strength, to seek it once more."

Karrin let out the faintest of breaths, a pained little gasp. Then she let out another and groaned. It was all Pyrrha needed for acknowledgement. Her eyes shot open and I watched her iris and pupil visibly shrink. A brilliant red glow flowed from her to Karrins body, which began to pulse a soft golden light in response.

When she spoke again, her voice sounded different, like someone was repeating what she was saying a second too slow. "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee…"

Pyrrha's glow slowly faded, and she slumped against the ground. She looked exhausted, but her eyes glimmered with hope. Karrin's glow did not immediately fade like Pyrrha's, instead gradually dissipating until she looked no different than normal. I looked from her to Pyrrha and back again.

"What did you just-"

My question was cut off with an ear splitting snap. The dent in Karrin's chest suddenly popped back into place, and her eyes snapped open, wide with pain. She groaned through clenched teeth and I watched in amazement as a faint energy flowed over her body. It didn't undo all of her injuries on the spot, but I could hear bones snapping back into place the squelching of body parts being rearranged or sealed once again.

Then it stopped again, Karrin's eyes rolled back into the back of her skull, and she went limp. Her chest slowly rose and fell in a peaceful rhythm, as if she hadn't just caved it in a moment ago.

I knew the look on my face was one of astonishment, but for good damn reason! No magic user I knew could have fixed an injury that easily, even Listens-To-Winds couldn't have pulled that off. Maybe a Fae like Lea could, but no mortal had the skill to pull that off.

"H-how… wh-where…" I couldn't even form a full sentence. This was just… unprecedented.

Pyrrha rubbed at her eyes, "I only unlocked her Aura, Harry. What you saw was its capabilities being put into effect. It won't be enough on its own, but it'll buy us time to get her to a hospital."

I closed my stupid mouth before it tunneled to China, and nodded. There would be time for questions later. Right now, like Pyrrha said, Karrin needed a hospital…

* * *

The Blue Beetle Mk. II was determined as hell to live up to her predecessors legacy. With Pyrrha's help, we got her turned back onto all four wheels and she started up without a problem. After that, Pyrrha and I carefully placed Karrin in the backseat. I drove and Pyrrha sat awkwardly in the back to keep Murphy secure. We got some odd looks when we arrived at the hospital, but when the staff saw Karrin, they hurried her inside on a gurney, leaving Pyrrha and I to sit in the waiting room.

I don't care for hospitals. Ignoring the fact that as a wizard, just walking through one could put people's lives at risk, hospitals had an atmosphere that just unnerved me. Everything felt too pristine from the perfumed air to the plush waiting room seats, or how the every surface was dustless. It was like a layer of paint over a mossy old wall. It didn't help that as a wizard, I could feel the sense of dread and pain that accompanied a hospital. Not everyone who went in to a hospital came out.

I'd almost lost a friend in a hospital once, he'd been put there because of a stupid mistake I'd made. Now I sat in the waiting room with my hand clasped together and my head bowed, waiting to see if Karrin would follow the same route. Across from me, Pyrrha sat with her head in her hands, silent. She hadn't said a word since we got in the car. That was almost an hour ago.

"So," I said, fed up with the silence. "Aura. What was the deal with that?"

Pyrrha shivered and took a deep breath, but didn't say anything. I leaned forward and scowled, "Because you've said part of the reason you run off all the time is because people like Karrin don't have one to protect them. So you'd better have a pretty damn good reason for holding that back the entire time."

I had honestly understood Pyrrha's reasoning at the time, lord knows I was in no place to judge her for the opinion. But magic, unlike Aura apparently, couldn't just be 'unlocked' from someone. An individual could study magical theory for years and years and still never develop a lick of talent, being more dependent on charms and rituals to draw on for power, like Butters. With a few fancy words though, Pyrrha had apparently given Karrin the same physics-violating abilities that she had dished out several times; that was, to put it lightly, kind of a Big Deal.

I watched intently as Pyrrha took another breath and sat up. She glanced around the waiting room, saw that only a bored nurse was manning the front desk, and fixed me with a tired expression. "What I did for Murphy… for Karrin, is an incredibly rare technique on Remnant, and either forbidden or outright illegal, depending on the kingdom. Only a handful of families still teach it anymore, including mine. If I were anyone else, I'd need several more years of training before I would risk doing what I did an hour ago."

"Why though? Seems like a pretty useful technique to have, given the state of affairs there." I said.

"Because unlocking a person's Aura is...difficult." Pyrrha explained. "To keep it as simple as I can, doing it requires the initiator to… embrace the others Soul and guide them, to show them that they are greater than their individual parts of their body."

I raised a brow, "Interesting choice of words."

Pyrrha coughed and I swore she blushed, it was hard to tell since she was still a uniform shade of pink from her time in the belly of the beast. "It is an… intimate process. When it occurs, you briefly become closer with a person than is physically possible. Their thoughts, feelings, doubts, emotions, everything that defines them, you become privy to."

"So it's like a Soulgaze." I summed up.

"In a way, only even closer. For a brief time, you and the one you're helping are essentially a single being, and you are showing them how to access their latent potential. Typically, we only do this on younger students who show a potential for Aura. Older individuals are too set in their ways, usually, and some people simply aren't capable of manifesting their Aura. Karrin, however, seems to have benefited from her time with you, and possessed a very strong spirit."

A memory of a golden angel clad in brilliant robes of sunlight and wielding a blade of fire appeared in my mind, still as fresh as the day I'd first seen it. A small smile crossed my face. "Yeah, I could buy that."

Pyrrha rubbed at her eyes, "If it weren't for either of those factors though, she and I would… well, we'd no longer reside on the mortal plane."

I blinked, "Wait, it's lethal?"

She fixed me with a deadpan expression, "We're linking our souls together and guiding them to exist as an extension of the physical body, and I've only done it once before. If you hadn't snapped at me and I'd tried it then, I wouldn't be talking to you right now. That, and the differences between our worlds, was why I never brought it up. The risk of me and Karrin dying were too great at the time, but when the accident happened…"

A few tears formed in her eyes, "I don't have a lot of friends Harry, and the few I do have are on another world. You and Karrin are all I have and… I was scared to be alone again."

Ah shit, wait to go Dresden. Danger's passed, and now you've made the girl start crying again. I sighed and reached out, taking Pyrrha's hand in my own. "You're not alone though Pyrrha, you never were."

She wiped at her eyes, "I know. That was why I was so determined to try and… protect you. The Grimm aren't acting like how they should Harry, and this woman you've mentioned… I feel I'm not strong enough to defend you, any of you, from what might be coming."

Well that certainly sounded familiar.

"Typically Pyrrha," I said, "This is why it's really good having friends, so you don't have to face the unspeakable horde of enormous black and red rage monsters alone."

That made her laugh, though it was tinged with a bitter tone, "If I'd just warned you, we could have avoided this mess."

"Probably." I agreed, "But we have an idea of what we're up against now. This isn't just a series of random attacks, these are coordinated and planned. Granted, it's by a group who's as enigmatic and vague as the name I came up with for them, but it's better than what we had. And after this is all through, we'll find a new safehouse for the time being and make sure to get some rest before jumping back into the fire again. So don't fall over that despair horizon yet, alright Ponytail?"

Pyrrha smiled, "Of course, and thank you Harry."

She hugged me, and I sighed, "Yeah yeah. Though this raises a question, you said you've done this once before. With who and why?"

Pyrrha immediately pulled away and scratched at the back of her head, her face a heavy shade of red, "Oh that...um, that's not really important to know, is it? Hehe...he…"

I raised a brow, "Okay, now I have to know, if only because I could use a good laugh. You owe me for bailing you out of the slammer, so spill Nikos."

"I...you...but that's not…" her protests died in her throat, and I grinned.

Pyrrha hung her head in defeat, "Just...it was during initiation at Beacon academy and my partner I had joined with had no Aura. So I… unlocked it for him. It was life or death, if I hadn't, he wouldn't have survived initiation."

I chuckled, "I see. Was this by any chance, this Jaune I've heard about?"

"I didn't say that!"

"Didn't need to," I laughed. It felt good, however brief it was, to laugh again. It took the edge off and released some of the tension that had been building over the past hour.

"Personally," I said, once I stopped laughing, "I'm just relieved to hear that under all that 'duty and deadly serious' personality of yours, there's still an actual teenage girl."

Pyrrha coughed and sank into her chair, "This conversation is over." she mumbled in a sad attempt to salvage her dignity.

I was preparing to grill her some more, when the door to the waiting room opened and a lean black haired doctor in hospital scrubs stepped out, "Mister Dresden?"

And like that, the tension was back.

I stood up and the doctor approached me, "How is she, doc?"

He scratched at his head and wore a look of confusion, "That's just it. When you brought her to us, Miss Murphy was in critical condition. We began preparations to operate but a quick examination has shown that… well, despite all reasonable assumptions, your friend is healing at an astounding rate. There's no precedent for this as far as I'm aware. If she continues to heal as she has, Miss Murphy may be able to leave the hospital by this afternoon."

I felt my jaw drop again and I glanced at Pyrrha. She just wore a small satisfied smile on her face. I looked back at the doctor, "If… if that's true doctor, can we… ya know, talk to her?"

"I'd say no," the doctor said, "But that's one reason I'm here. She asked for both of you and was very insistent. Given her condition, I found it hard to say no. But I ask that you be careful and refrain from physical contact. We've no idea the extent of this… miracle."

I nodded, "Right right, of course."

We were lead through the halls, which were mercifully bare of patients today. Very few rooms showed heavy occupation for one reason or another, and I felt relieved at that. Even so, this visit with Karrin would have to be brief, even if every part of me was screaming to never let her leave my side again.

When we reached her room, the first thing I noted was the bandages, Karrin was covered in them from head to toe until she resembled a mummy more than an actual person. Her face was one of the few places left uncovered, and life had returned to those beautiful blue eyes of hers. One of her legs was suspended in the air, wrapped in a cast, and she had a matching set on her arms to boot.

But she was alive and breathing, and I felt relieved seeing it first hand, and showed it the best way I knew how.

"Bandages, pulleys, and casts. It's just like when we first hooked up, Murph, ain't it romantic?"

She groaned, "Oh god… stuck in a hospital, practically tied to the bed, everything hurts, and to top it off, I have to listen to your attempts at being 'funny'. God, I really am in hell, aren't I?"

"If so, it's a lot cleaner than I expected." I pulled up a chair next to her bed, "Prettier too."

Again Karrin groaned, but I saw her smile, "God Dresden, you are such a pig."

"The piggiest."I agreed, and added in a softer tone, "I'm glad to see you're okay."

She sighed, "For a measure of the word. Every bone in my body feels like it's on fire, everything else is sore, and my skin is itching something fierce. But… I'm alive."

I grinned again, "Well, when you're out of here, I'll be more than happy to help you scratch that itch."

Pyrrha coughed awkwardly, and we both looked at her… and the doctor. Right, we weren't completely alone. I saw Pyrrha move her hand slightly, and heard a crash from the hallway, followed by the surprised yelp of hospital staff. The doctor glanced out the door, cursed, and went running into the hall. The door shut behind him without anyone touching it, and locked tight.

"We've got, give, maybe ten minutes." Pyrrha said.

I blinked, then nodded. Karrin quirked her lips, "Uh-huh. So, with the doc gone, someone going to explain what the hell is up with my body? I don't think menopause works like this."

I jerked a thumb at Pyrrha, "Ponytail can apparently unlock a person's Aura, but apparently it's an incredibly dangerous thing to do. Given that you already had a foot in the grave though…"

Karrin nodded, "Okay, got it. So does that mean Sir Isaac Newton is my bitch now, or…?"

I held back a laugh, while Pyrrha shrugged, "It's not that simple. Unlocking your Aura will eventually restore you to near perfect health, a reflection of your inner self upon your outer self. You'll be stronger, faster, and more durable than any point in your life. But, and I speak from experience here, it won't give you the skills of a full fledged Huntress. That comes from years of training and hard work."

"Of course it does," Karrin sighed. "Still, I guess it's a start, and I'm no stranger to training. Once I'm out of this god-forsaken place, I'll take you up on that offer Pyrrha."

She smiled, "I look forward to it."

I took Karrins hand in my own, the best I could given the cast, and added, "But not until you are damn sure you're fine, alright?"

"God, you worry too much Dresden." she replied.

"Karrin, please."

She looked at me with an annoyed expression that was plain even behind the bandages, then sighed, "Alright, alright. You win. Damn you and your puppy dog eyes."

I leaned forward and gently pressed my lips to hers. They felt warm and alive and tingled with an energy very familiar to the touch of someone with the Gift. Similar, but not quite the same.

When I pulled back, her face was red and eyes huge, "That was… different. Tingly."

"Not sure I felt it," I said, and kissed her again. Just to be sure.

I was vaguely aware that Pyrrha turned her back to us to give us both a measure of privacy. A moment later, I heard her arguing with someone beyond the door, something about the lock on the door being jammer. Karrin grinned into the the kiss for a second longer, then pulled away.

"God I can't wait to get out of here." she whispered.

"Down girl," I replied, and looked back at the door.

Pyrrha jiggled the handle and it popped open, "Oh! Nevermind, I figured it out! Sorry doctor."

The man walked back inside and eyed Karrin and I with suspicion. I stood up and coughed, "Er, thanks for letting us talk to her doctor. You'll call us if anything comes up."

He continued eyeing me suspiciously, and said, "Yes. Of course Mr. Dresden."

"Thanks doc." I said and glanced at Murphy, "We'll be in the suburbs if you need us, okay?"

Karrin nodded, "Gotcha. See you then, Harry."

By then the doctor had enough and shooed us both out of the room. We left the hospital shortly after, getting in the remains of the Blue Beetle. The sky was beginning to change color as night gave way to day, and the air felt cool. The clouds had cleared for the first time all week, and I felt comfortable in the driver's seat.

Pyrrha secured herself in what was left of the passenger seat, and after a moment of wrestling with the engine, the Beetle sputtered to life and we rolled down the street. I'll say this, without a roof, the bug made a pretty decent convertible.

We'd just made it out of the parking lot, when Pyrrha asked me, "This place we're going? You sure it'll be safe?"

"Safest place I can think of from the Grimm!" I yelled over the roar of the wind that tore at my hair and duster. "Best security against the supernatural in Chicago, and an old friend of mine has a contingent of supernatural mercenaries living nearby to protect against normal threats! It's as safe as it gets, and the people who live there are practically living saints!"

Pyrrha didn't respond. I glanced over at her, and smiled. She had fallen asleep in her seat, exhausted from the night's events. So I drove in silence as a new dawn rose over Chicago…

* * *

The neighborhood I drove into was vastly different from where my apartment had been located. Instead of low slung housing complexes overshadowed by the business district, we were in a suburb of old Victorian houses, some restored some not, and with ancient trees lining the road. I slowly approached one house that stood out amongst the others, colonial model that looked like something out of a _Better Homes and Gardens_ magazine, complete with white picket fence and a few well groomed trees. Even the rain had done little to dampen its appearance, the house practically radiated a welcoming aura in the early morning.

The Beetle stood out like a sore thumb, but then, everything about me stood out when I came here. I parked in front of the houses gate, and the bugs engine finally died with a belch of black smoke. I gave the steering wheel an affectionate pat and got out, locking the drivers side door, then walking around to the gaping hole where the passenger door used to be, and undoing Pyrrha's belt.

She didn't stir from the actions, nor did she react when I easily scooped her up in my arms. Once I had a secure grip on her, she mumbled something softly in her sleep and nuzzled against my chest before going still.

The gate swung open silently, and I approached the front door, which was as well managed and clean as the rest of the house, and kicked it three times with my boot. I heard a lopsided set of steps a moment later.

The door opened a moment later to reveal a man in his early fifties with bright blue eyes and greying hair. His jaw was strong and recently shaved, and he had a strong build despite the cane he used to support himself.

Michael Carpenter took one look at me, exhausted, bruised, with an unconscious teenage girl in my arms, and stepped to the side.

"Come on in Harry. I hear you've been busy."

 **A/N: I'm back bitches! Finals are over, school is done for now, and the holidays are just around the corner! I've got another chapter planned for a thursday release, then a special, non-canon, christmas special for this saturday. That'll be tons of fun when it comes, I promise.**

 **Anyway, talk about a crazy chapter. So little and yet so much happened here, and it felt good to be back to writing again. I hope you all enjoyed what happened, and expect the next few chapters to be...**

 **Well, don't expect any action for the next few chapters, till chapter 30 at the earliest.**

 **From here on its mostly either fluff or character stuff, as well as some plot stuff. I look forward to sharing it with you all!**

 **Until then, and Merry Christmas to you all!**


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

Pyrrha bolted upright in bed with a gasp, ready to lunge at the nearest foe. She realized a moment later that the only enemy she would be facing were the boxes of sewing supplies stacked around her. Several stacks were neatly arranged around the small, twin sized, bed she slept on, and a simple sewing bench rested against the wall. The air was calm and cool against her skin, and Pyrrha slumped forward into a relaxed position.

She must've fallen asleep after they left the hospital; the last thing she remembered was asking about the safe house before exhaustion had finally overcome her. Years of endurance training had given her a level of stamina few could match, but even Pyrrha had her limits, and last night had pushed them to the edge . This had to be the place Harry had planned on taking them to, though.

Admittedly, this was not what she expected when she thought of the words 'safe house'. Walls of stone and steel were her immediate thoughts, not drywall and sewing supplies. Obviously, there had to be some magic at work.

Pyrrha slowly swung her legs over the side of the bed and groaned. She wasn't hurt, her skin had long since returned to its normal creamy color, but her body had the kind of ache she would have felt after a very long sleep. How long had she been out?

A quick glance around revealed an analog clock on the sewing table that read a quarter to twelve. Pyrrha stood up and frowned at her protesting muscles. Dawn had just begun to rise when they left the hospital, which meant that she must have been asleep for at least six or seven hours without moving at all. Hopefully she hadn't missed much in the intervening time.

That was when the note caught her eye, a slip of paper on the sewing desk next to a fresh set of neatly folded clothes. She picked it up and read:

' _Pyrrha,_

 _I had to go back to what's left of the apartment to find Bonnie and a few important magical items. Don't worry, the Carpenters are Good People, Michael is the man in charge of the house and his wife Charity is coming with me. Please,_ _Stay Put._ _I'll be back in a couple of hours. Until then, stay in that house. You're safe from anything supernatural there, anything that isn't, I imagine you can handle._

 _Harry_

 _P.S. Charity left some new clothes for you on the desk, your armor won't last past noon._

Pyrrha put the note down and frowned again. She didn't like the idea of Harry leaving without her, but going out for a fight wasn't something Pyrrha had been up for. Plus the idea of poor Bonnie being trapped in the rubble all alone with no idea if they were alive or not was heartbreaking. Harry had his reasons, and frustrating as they were, Pyrrha had to accept them. This time, anyway.

Instead of fussing at overbearing wizards, she gathered up the fresh clothes and reluctantly removed her old armor that the Leanansidhe had gifted her with. It had served her well in its brief time, but it was always a temporary arrangement. In addition to that, her time in the Nevermore's stomach had left all of it rather… sticky and smelling acrid. A shower was _definitely_ in order, to say the least, but only after she found the owner of the house, Mr. Carpenter. It was one thing for Harry to leave her with his friends, but common courtesy demanded that she at least present herself to him.

Charity had left Pyrrha with a plain white T-shirt and jeans, and while they were a little loose, they were clean and that was good enough. No new shoes for the moment, but she had a feeling that was an easily rectifiable situation. Even if it wasn't immediately solvable, she should have been used to being barefoot. She thought ruefully to herself that it certainly happened to her often enough since her arrival in Chicago.

Once she was appropriately dressed, Pyrrha eased open the door and emerged into a long hallway. Her guest room was situated near the back of the hall. Rows of doorways lined both walls and stopped just short of the stairway opposite her end. Pyrrha silently padded out and shut the door behind her.

The first thing she noticed as she walked were the photographs that decorated the walls, of various members of what had to be the Carpenter family. She stopped to look at one, and smiled faintly. Over half a dozen children, four girls that took after their fair haired mother and three boys that took after the dark brown hair of their father, were gathered in front of their parents for a family get together of some kind. The oldest had multicolored hair and a look of distinct displeasure on her face. It was almost as if she wanted to be anywhere but there, and there was something almost familiar about her…

Voices cut off Pyrrha's train of thought, a commotion of garbled yells and cries of laughter that only an abundance of children could create. The happy chaos had to be the Carpenter family. Pyrrha continued down the hall, forgetting about the picture, and descended the steps and emerged on to the first floor, and by extension, the living room. A large couch was laid out in front of a flat-screen television hung over a fireplace, and two single seat chairs were placed on either side of it. A large, hand crafted, wooden table lay between them, nicked and worn from years of abuse, yet still standing strong. There was a homey feel to the room, a lived in quality that made Pyrrha relax, if only slightly.

The voices came from her left and Pyrrha turned in that direction, right as one of them called out, "Incoming!"

That was when a colossal wall of fur seemed to appear from nowhere, barreling down the hall and into Pyrrha's legs at a frightening speed. One moment she was standing and the next the floor was rapidly rising to meet her face. A last second reaction stopped her from face planting on the carpet, and she was quickly back up on her feet, arms raised in a fighting position.

The hairy wall returned and slammed into Pyrrha again, pinning her to the floor under its mass and knocking all the air from her lungs. She gasped and struggled in vain to push off her attacker, when the unexpected happened.

It began to bathe her with its gigantic pink tongue. Pyrrha sputtered, blinked, and finally got a look at her 'attacker' between licks. It was not a Grimm as she suspected, or some other form of supernatural nasty. No, it was a gigantic dog, larger than any she had ever seen, easily as long as she was tall and covered in thick shaggy grey fur. The giant of a dog stopped licking Pyrrha once to observe her with its big brown eyes.

Then it went back to her makeshift bath.

"Bah!" she laughed and placed her palm under the dog's chin and gently pushed it away, "Okay, okay! Good dog, good dog!"

The ground began to shake at that and she realized it was the dog's _tail_. Pyrrha pushed a little more firmly, and the dog got the message and got off her. She sat up and glanced down at her white shirt… which was now a nice shade of grey. There was no amusement in the look she gave the dog. It gave her a doggy grin and sat on its haunches next to her.

"Stinker." Pyrrha scolded, playfully, and got up while brushing the thick mat of fur off her chest. It took her several tries, during which the dog continued to grin with his tongue lolled out to the side. She wasn't entirely certain that he wasn't laughing at her.

Pyrrha heard several sets of feet come pounding down the hall and turned towards them. There were five of them total, the oldest, about Pyrrha's age, was a tall and lean girl with dark hair, black rimmed glasses and serious air about her. Next was another girl at fifteen or sixteen years old with a body that was more 'developed' than her older sister with curly blonde hair and dressed in a bright pink shirt and green skirt. Third was yet another girl, thirteen or fourteen who looked nearly identical to her older sister but dressed in less eye searing colors. Fourth was the only boy of the five, a tall, lanky young man just hitting his growth spurt; he had thick brown hair and brown eyes and a young face. And finally, the smallest and youngest of the five was a little girl as small as the dog was large, with slender facial features, big eyes, and pale skin. She couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old at the most, and was currently hiding behind the leg of the boy, watching Pyrrha with curious big eyes.

The dog brushed past Pyrrha's leg and trotted over to the kids, specifically the little girl, and sat back down. She immediately wrapped her arms around its neck, and never took her eyes off Pyrrha. She suddenly felt very awkward.

"Hello," she greeted them and extended a hand, "You must be the Carpenters. I'm Pyrrha Nikos."

The oldest girl clasped Pyrrha's hand and shook it, offering a friendly smile, "Alicia Carpenter, and this is Amanda, Hope, Harry, and Maggie. The big furball is Mouse, but I think you two already met."

Pyrrha glanced at Mouse, then at her freshly fuzzed shirt. The dog's mouth fell open in a seemingly innocent big doggy grin.

"Yes, you could say that." Pyrrha muttered, and smiled again. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all, but I was hoping I could talk with your father. Is Mr. Carpenter home?"

"Please, call me Michael." Everyone looked down the hall where a tall well built man had appeared, supporting himself with a wooden cane. He had a strong face, dark greying hair and brilliant blue eyes that reminded Pyrrha all too much of Jaune's. A tight pressure settled on her chest and throat as Michael approached.

The kids, and Mouse, parted for him, and Michael smiled his thanks, "I had my suspicions that our guest might have awoken when the house went quiet. The house is _never_ quiet, especially on a rainy day." he came to a stop in front of Pyrrha and offered his hand.

Pyrrha swallowed past the pressure in her throat and took it. His grip was strong, and comforting. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. I was just… confused."

Michael raised a brow, "Did Harry forget to leave his note?"

"I was supposed to leave a note?" Harry asked, grinning.

His sister Hope elbowed him in the side, "He's talking about Bill, not you."

"I know that, it's called sarcasm!"

Michael sent the two a glance and they stopped. He smiled, and said, "Alicia, take your siblings and Maggie to the kitchen, lunch is ready."

The eldest nodded, "Right, come on jawas, let's move!"

They moved, though not without complaints. "A former jawa can't call us jawas," Hope complained.

"I'm oldest now, therefore, I have the right, Hobbit." Alicia countered as they vanished down the hall.

Michael wore a grin as he shook his head, and then looked at Pyrrha. "So, Miss Nikos, how are you feeling?"

She blinked, "How am I feeling?"

"Your ears seem to be working," Michael said, still grinning. "So yes. How do you feel? The clothes my wife lent you seem to fit well, but from what Harry told me, the past few days have not been kind to you."

Pyrrha pulled a clump of grey dog hair off her chest and frowned, "They've been… exciting, to say the least. Everything I thought I knew has been turned on its head and I still don't know everything I should."

"Ah yes, the Black Magic. Harry mentioned that. I've only seen its effects once or twice before. You are very lucky that you can still function as well as you do."

Half a dozen emotional breakdowns, a short temper, and recklessly charging off on her own on several occasions suggested otherwise to Pyrrha. She didn't say that aloud though, merely grunting, "So I've been told."

She glanced at Michaels cane in hand and added, "Mr. Ca- Michael, would you prefer we sit down? I know leg injuries can be taxing under the best conditions."

Michael's smile returned, "I take it you have experience with them?"

"My mother's career ended because of one. She's recovered now, but it was an exhausting time."

The big man glanced at his legs, "True. But I do enough sitting as is, I would prefer to stand for now, and have a proper answer to my question."

Intentional or not, Pyrrha was avoiding every question he asked. Granted, she didn't have much reason to share with him, but simply telling him that would be preferable to her dancing around the issue.

Pyrrha sighed, "I'm tired, sore, and my nerves are stretched thin. My home is far, far away, and I may never be able to return. One of my only friends in this world is in the hospital thanks to my recklessness and the other abandoned me here, and on top of all of that, my mind was violated in the most intimate ways imaginable and merely thinking about those events-"

A brief bolt of lightning struck her skull and she winced, "-is a painful experience. I feel terrible, Mr. Carpenter, and I don't know if I'll ever get over it. That's how I feel right now."

It surprised her just how bitter the words were as they left her mouth. Part of it had to be a result of stress, but the truth still rang behind them. Pyrrha was lost and didn't know what to do with herself, and events had shown that she was not prepared to deal with it.

Michael rubbed at his chin, "I see. What makes you think Harry abandoned you here?"

She thought briefly back to when Harry snapped and got angry at her, the frustration (albeit, justified frustration) with her actions and what happened to Murphy. And that was just from a few hours ago, not getting into the encounter with Torchwick and what happened afterwards, or her temporary stone silence after having even a sliver of her missing memories returned to her.

"I've made quite a few mistakes the past few days." Pyrrha said. "He probably sees me more as a liability to him and the others. I don't blame him."

Michael nodded again, making a 'hmm' sound. "Interesting. Now we can take a seat, Pyrrha."

She looked at him confused for a moment, while Michael took a seat in one of the side chairs, letting out a relieved sigh as he did. He glanced at her and motioned to the couch. Pyrrha took a seat, with the confusion still plain on her face.

After a moment settling down, Michael leaned forward with both hands on his cane, and asked, "How old are you, Pyrrha? Nineteen, twenty?"

She blinked, "Seventeen, actually."

"Huh, really? I wouldn't have guessed." Michael waved a hand through the air, "Regardless, you say you're seventeen, yes? And from what Harry told me, you are still in school, a sort of military academy?"

"It's more complicated than that, but technically yes."

He nodded, "Have you ever operated outside of the classroom Pyrrha, outside your controlled environments, especially for a long period of time?"

Pyrrha thought back to her first day at Beacon and said, "Outside of one or two events? Not really."

"I see." Michael said. "Harry also mentioned you possessed abilities the average person doesn't, much like his magic. Do any of these abilities allow you to see or manipulate the future?"

"Um, no." Pyrrha frowned. It was an odd series of questions, but a small part of her realized that Michael was getting more answers out of them than she believed.

She folded her hands in her lap and said, "Mr. Carpenter, what are you trying to determine here?"

"I'm not determining anything." Michael said. "But past experience has shown me that the best way to help someone, is to simply ask questions. What do you think I'm determining?"

Still frowning, Pyrrha mulled over the questions, and thought on them in relation to what she'd told Michael. It didn't take long for the gears to click into place and for the shining truth to reveal itself to her.

"You're saying that because of my inexperience in real world situations, and my own limited senses, that my actions aren't… entirely my fault?"

Michael smiled, faintly, "Close. You are, like every human who has ever lived, limited to your own personal view, Pyrrha. The actions and words you speak will always be yours, shaped by your personal experience and context of the situation at hand. Now, take that into account and apply it to Harry."

She felt a little skeptical at his words, but Pyrrha did as Michael commanded and thought on what she knew about Harry. On the outside, he was a strong willed man, quiet with a dry sense of humor and the potential to become a force of nature when he could unleash his power. But there was more to him than that, more that Pyrrha had seen when she first met him and looked into those tired brown eyes of his. The Soulgaze had shown what nothing else could, that above all else, Harry valued the safety and protection of Chicago and the people who lived in it. He would fight and die to protect others, no matter the personal cost to himself, he was in essence, a guardian of the weak, and over the past few days he'd learned that his entire city was at risk.

And like that, the pieces came together.

"He left to protect me, to give me a chance to… to rest and heal." Pyrrha said. "Harry knows better than anyone that I'm… not myself right now; but he couldn't wait for me to recover either. That's why he left, so he could keep working on the case, while giving me time to recover."

Michael smiled, "Speaking from personal experience, Pyrrha, every warrior, no matter how strong or mighty, needs to take time to rest. Harry knows this too, and though it's taken him a long, _long_ time to figure it out, he's actually begun to indulge in it."

He glanced down the hall where his kids were, "Because as you fight longer and you fight harder, you realize that the next mission could be your last."

He looked back at her with a sad smile, "Don't spend every second worrying about the next threat or the next mission. Learn to relax when the time comes, otherwise you'll never know what you might miss."

Michaels words rang true as Pyrrha thought back to Jaune, to the time wasted trying to get close to him, to show that she was interested in more than just friendship. Now she was stuck somewhere else, and while Jaune knew she was alive, Pyrrha had no idea when she would return to him, if ever.

She bowed her head and said, "But I can't just waste time either, Mr. Carpenter. There's a danger out there that no one understands as well as I do, I should be out there with Harry, helping."

"You were barely coherent when Harry brought you here," Michael replied. "We tried to stir you, but you were beyond exhausted. Had you actually summoned the strength to go with him, you would have been a liability."

Pyrrha ducked her head lower, feeling the shame return. Michael sighed and gently clasped her shoulder in his big hand, "All he's doing is retrieving lost gear from his apartment Pyrrha. He should return any time now. If you left now, you'd have no idea where he might be."

True, Pyrrha knew nothing about Chicago's streets.

"Besides," Michael added, "I can't imagine you'd want to go running about with an empty stomach either."

As if waiting for the cue, Pyrrha's stomach let forth a monstrous growl that nearly shook the house to its foundations, and sent vibrations through the couch. When it stopped, the house was dead silent.

"Dad!? What was that!?"

 **A/N: Short chapter, I apologize. Not only was this a difficult chapter to write in general, but I had to deal with holidays and a holiday cold that kicked my ass. Awkward part is past though, and we have one more fluff chapter, before the plot will rear its ugly head.**

 **Expect rewrites in the future, and don't forget to review and let me know what you thought!**


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

Pyrrha crossed her arms over her stomach and blushed, "I suppose it has been a while since I've eaten." She had, after all, slept through breakfast and it was nearly time for lunch.

Michael grunted, and grabbed his cane, "Well, let's fix that, then. We were just starting lunch anyway."

Before he could begin struggling to stand, Pyrrha got up and came to his side, slipping one hand under his arm and helping him to his feet. He sent her a grateful expression, and settled onto his cane. "Thank you."

Pyrrha smiled and nodded, and followed Michael down the hall. Despite his handicap, the man moved methodically and with little difficulty. There was a great strength in his movement, one familiar to Pyrrha, though she wasn't sure how. It seemed that everything about Michael was stirring up familiar memories for her today.

As they neared the kitchen, a thought occurred to Pyrrha, and she gently grabbed Michael's shoulder, "Um, Michael, do your kids actually… know anything about me?"

He smiled and patted her hand, "You are our guest, I told them everything they needed to know about you. You won't need to hide who you are here."

That was a bit of a relief. Pyrrha would have perfectly understood if Michael had decided to keep her origin on Remnant a secret from the kids. It was a dizzying thought, the idea of alternate universes, one she was still coming to terms with. Plus, Pyrrha was a terrible, _terrible_ liar. She had no desire to go down that road if it could be avoided.

So, assured by his statement, the two continued onwards.

The kitchen was actually a large dining room kitchen combination, one half occupied by a large mahogany table that could easily seat eight to twelve people, the other a simple kitchen with a large island and mahogany cabinets. A large set of windows rested in front of the kitchen sink, showing that, yes, the rain had begun yet again. It was all well maintained, but there was a lived in feel to it all, which given the size of the Carpenter family, was likely an understatement.

Speaking of the family, the kids were clustered in the kitchen with plates and forks and knives, while Alicia was fussing with the oven and Mouse sat by her side, patiently waiting for the inevitable drop of food that would be his. The faint smell cheese and freshly toasted bread wafted through the air. Pyrrha's stomach rumbled again, in a less monstrous manner than before, and she licked her lips with anticipation.

"That smells really good right now." she said.

Harry and Hope both turned to her and the former deadpanned, "It's just grilled cheese."

Hope elbowed him in the side again, "You felt the house shake, right? Obviously she's hungry, dolt."

"That was her? I thought it was an earthquake." he grinned.

Pyrrha felt her eye twitch. So much for a break from Dresden's snark. Trade one Harry for another, literally, in this case. Sometimes, she wondered if the universe took a perverse pleasure in subjecting her to such things.

Michael shook his head as he hobbled into the kitchen and leaned against the island, "That's enough you two. Alicia, how's the food?"

Alicia dropped the last grilled cheese sandwich on top of a disturbingly greasy pile of sandwiches that stretched a foot or two into the air. "That would be the last one, though I'm not sure if this qualifies as 'food' dad."

Michael winced, "I tried my best, but I am not as good as your mother when it comes to cooking."

"At least we know where Molly gets it from now," Amanda snickered.

"Who's Molly?" Pyrrha asked. She'd met everyone in the house, so she was probably one of the other kids in the photo she'd seen in the hall. Maybe the girl with the technicolor hair?

"Molly is my oldest," Michael explained, "She's gifted in the magical arts and was Harry's apprentice for some time. Unfortunately, her skills in cooking were… less than gifted, and there are some things even Harry can't teach."

That was surprising, Harry hadn't mentioned Molly or any kind of apprentice, as far as Pyrrha remembered. Based on what Michael was saying, she wasn't his apprentice anymore, but still it was surprising. Why had Harry not mentioned her earlier, or better yet, why wasn't she brought in as backup? Certainly another wizard would be indispensable in the fight against the Grimm. Maybe there had been a falling out she wasn't aware of.

If Molly was the same girl she'd seen in the photo, Pyrrha could believe that. She did not seem to be of the law-abiding, authority respecting type. Regardless, Pyrrha made a mental note to question Harry on that later. Right now, there was a far greater threat to focus on; the aching hunger swelling in her stomach.

"Everyone at the table!" Michael announced, to unanimous despair.

"What?"

"Come on."

"Do we have to?"

"It's just grilled cheese dad!"

Notably, while the four Carpenter children complained, Maggie reached up on her tiptoes and snatched two sandwiches from the plate. She placed one on the floor for Mouse (Who devoured it with frightful speed) and the other on her plate, then scurried over to the table and took a seat. Pyrrha smiled with amusement at the scene, while Michael got his children back under control.

"Alright, alright, that's enough." He said. "We have a guest with us today, so we will eat at the table as a family to help make her feel welcome."

All eyes shot to her and Pyrrha felt infinitely more awkward, "I appreciate the gesture, Mr. Carpenter, but it's really not necessary."

"Perhaps," Michael admitted. "But we so rarely do it nowadays, and it'll be good for all of us. Besides, knowing my children, they'd probably just sit in front of the TV anyway, with the weather as it is."

There was a moment of silence from the children, before Hope said, "Well, he's not wrong."

Despite their grumbling, the rest of the Carpenter kids took their seats at the table, Amanda, Harry, and Hope on one side, Alicia and Maggie on the other. Pyrrha took her seat between the latter two, flashing them both a friendly smile that Alicia returned. Maggie shyly shrank in her seat and averted her eyes from Pyrrha until Mouse padded over, still licking his chops, and took a seat next to Maggie. The girl seemed eased by the presence of the dog, sitting up straighter and unconsciously stroking his big shaggy head.

Michael passed out plates for everyone and set the mountainous platter of food in the center for everyone to reach. Pyrrha noted that when he was close to the table, Michael left his cane by his chair so he could use both hands to pass out plates and paper towels. Only occasionally did he pause to steady himself on the table, and that barely slowed him down. Once all the plates were passed out, he took a seat at the end of the table closest to his children and held out his hands.

"I hope you don't mind Pyrrha, but it's a tradition in this house to say Grace before we eat." Michael explained. Pyrrha wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but saw Maggie and Hope take his hands, and saw Hope, Harry and Amanda link their hands.

Her mind made the connection.

"You're going to pray? I don't mind at all, Michael."

That made Michael smile, and immediately after, Pyrrha felt a small hand wrap around the fingers of her left hand. She looked down at Maggie, who gave a shy smile at her and bowed her head. Pyrrha took Alicia's offered hand on her right and saw as the Carpenters all bowed their heads, and did the same.

When Michael spoke, his voice was filled with a soft reverence, "Oh Lord, we thank you for the food we have before us, and pray that in the coming hours it does not poison us all. We ask that you continue to watch over our dear Charity, and bring Maggie's father home to us safely. And of course Lord, we thank you for our guest, may she find the purpose in this world you have laid out for her lord. In your name we pray, amen."

His kids echoed the statement, even Maggie, released their hands and looked back up, save for Pyrrha. She clasped her hands together for one solitary moment and silently pleaded, ' _Father, if you can see me even here, I ask for you to lend me your strength and wisdom in the coming days. Amen.'_

It had been far too long since Pyrrha has last prayed to her father's spirit, for anything really. Now more than ever though, it felt particularly appropriate. She didn't feel changed by it, but just a little, it felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"Well then," Michael said as Pyrrha raised her head with the others. "Pyrrha, since you're our guest, you get first serving." he cast a glance at Maggie's plate and the grease on Mouse's lips. They both looked far too innocent for their own good.

"Or third, in this case. How many sandwiches would you like?"

Pyrrha blinked, "Oh, well, not too many. Seven or eight perhaps? Maybe just six."

Silence blanketed the table as everyone stared at her. Amanda's eyes looked ready to pop out of their socket, while young Harry just nodded like he understood her request perfectly. And just like that, Pyrrha felt awkward again.

"I'm sorry, what did I say?"

Michael shook his head, with a knowing smile on his face, "Nothing wrong Pyrrha, you merely surprised us. Are you sure you just want that number?"

Pyrrha briefly thought back to her hazy food coma from the stakeout, and nodded. "Yes, please."

To her relief, no one commented on the tower of grilled cheese that went on her plate, and normalcy soon returned to the table. Food was quickly distributed amongst the Carpenters (This was obviously a practice ritual for them) and by the time everyone had their own meal, Pyrrha was finishing her fourth sandwich.

"Where does it all go?" Hope wondered aloud.

Pyrrha swallowed and smiled awkwardly, "I have had a busy few days. I don't normally eat this much unless I've been in a fight or training recently."

Which, given her lifestyle choices, meant she ate like this all the time every time.

"Well that explains that," Alicia said. "We've seen how busy you've been all over the news."

Pyrrha finished inhaling her fifth sandwich and cast Alicia a sidelong glance, "We have?"

"You blew up The UC," Harry deadpanned. "That tends to catch attention."

"Don't forget the explosion by Bill's apartment." Hope reminded him.

Another sandwich vanished from Pyrrha's plate as she said, "Oh, that wasn't an explosion. Someone released a giant monster bird inside of Harry's apartment, and despite some… setbacks, we handled it. Speaking of…"

She looked to Michael, "Do you mind if I use your shower after this, Mr. Carpenter?"

"Not at all, and Pyrrha, please, call me Michael."

"Whoa whoa, wait." Hope interrupted, "You can't just go from 'giant monster bird' to 'can I use your shower' in the same sentence. Details, please!"

Pyrrha blinked and looked at the Carpenter children, who all looked curious to some degree or another. Maggie just nibbled on her sandwich, seemingly oblivious to the conversation happening around her.

"Um…" Pyrrha slowly said, and glanced at Michael. He gave a nod of approval, and so Pyrrha told them what happened, within reason. She kept out the more complicated details like Cinder and Cowl, as well as the accident that nearly killed Murphy and her arrest by the CPD. But she explained the events that lead up to it and how they ultimately handled it.

The kids were, by and large, enthralled. Pyrrha wouldn't admit it, but there was something enjoyable about seeing the excited looks in their faces as she told her story. It reminded her of times before the festival, before the world had set itself upon her in an ever expanding weight. Needless to say, by the time she'd finished her tale, the room had gone silent the sandwiches were gone… and Pyrrha was still hungry. But she kept that last detail to herself.

Hope, of course, broke the silence first, "Wow, so you're like… A super amazon or something, right?"

"No," a small voice replied. They all looked to the source, little Maggie. She fidgeted for a moment, until Mouse set his head in her lap, and she smiled, "She's a warrior princess. Obviously."

Pyrrha blinked, then smiled softly, "What makes you say that Maggie?"

The little girl patted Mouse's head and pointed at her own forehead, "The tiara. Only princesses wear tiaras."

Pyrrha resisted the urge to start squeeing over Maggie on the spot. There was a time and place for behavior like that, and as cheek-pinchingly adorable as she was, Pyrrha had a feeling that Dresden wouldn't appreciate it if she did that to his daughter…

Wait…

His daughter.

Harry had a daughter.

Harry Dresden had a _child._

How in the world had _that_ happened?!

"Maggie, right?" Pyrrha asked.

She nodded.

"Well, I'm not a princess Maggie. Like I said I'm a huntress. This was just a part of my uniform. The rest is… not in usable shape right now." Pyrrha assumed so, anyway, as noon had long since passed.

"But you're pretty and have the tiara, and you kick monster butt." Maggie reasoned. "That makes you a warrior princess."

Pyrrha thought on Maggie's logic for a moment, and shrugged, "Alright, fair enough Maggie."

Maggie grinned triumphantly at Hope, who rolled her eyes. This was obviously a conversation the two had discussedhad earlier.

At that moment, Mouse came trotting back to Maggie. At some point during Pyrrha's brief train of thought, the big dog had done a circle around the table and vanished. When he returned, he stopped at each of the Carpenter children for a moment, likely begging for scraps, before finally returning to Maggie and resting his head on her lap.

"So if you're a warrior princess…" Maggie said, slowly. "That means you'd be good at a… Nerf Gun Fight!"

Everyones hands went up revealing technicolor plastic guns of various shapes and sizes that Mouse had _somehow_ smuggled back into the living room. Pyrrha barely had time to cover her face before she was pelted in foam darts from every direction. When the barrage ceased, she lowered her arms and raised a brow at them.

"Are you done?"

There was a hollow 'pop!' and a dart with a plunger on its end smacked against the side of her forehead and stuck. Pyrrha slowly looked down at Maggie, holding a little blue pistol and smiling mischievously at her.

A smile of her own spread over Pyrrha's face.

"Oh, it's on now!"

* * *

"Look, Harry, we don't mean to nag-"

"Really? 'Cause this feels like nagging." Harry interrupted as he swung open the Carpenters front gate. He had a large duffel bag slungswung under one arm with everything he could salvage from his apartment inside it, including Bonnie. In his other arm, he carried a large plastic pet carrier with a very flustered Mister resting inside and making his displeasure known by constantly moving his oversized mass about in circles.

Charity Carpenter followed behind him. She was a tall woman, nearly six feet, with light blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. She wore an arming jacket, modernized with Kevlar ballistic fiber and black cotton, and a heavy mail coat over it, secured with a sword belt. Charity carried a steel helmet under one arm and a sword hung from her belt. In every sense of the word, she looked the part of a female viking ready to charge into battle, helped by her youthful appearance. Charity had wonone the genetic lottery in that department, as, even in her early fifties, she could easily pass for a woman in her early thirties.

This was a trait she had passed onto the third member of their party, her eldest daughter, Molly Carpenter. For all intents and purposes, Molly was a slightly taller and noticeably younger version of Charity. Same strong features, same strong and sensual body, and the same capacity to nag Harry senseless. She wore a light blue silk blouse and dark vest over it, and a dark pair of pants and business shoes. Her blonde hair was cut short, neatly framing her face.

It was after Harry and Charity had finished scavenging from the apartment that they had runran into Molly. She had gotten his call (Finally) and rushed to his apartment as fast as she could, conveniently intercepting running into the two as they prepared to leave. The details of the adventure were long, complicated, and ultimately irrelevant to the events at hand, but had needless, to say left Harry with a dozen new bruises and his hair standing on end.

"It's not nagging," Molly insisted as they approached the front door. "All we're saying is that you and Murphy need to think about your future."

"Exactly," Charity agreed. "You two are together now, and you're not children. You need to think about where you'll go with this relationship, and what affect it will have on Maggie. It's important to consider Harry, you know this."

Harry let out an annoyed groan, "Ugh! Remember when you two couldn't stay in the same room together, let alone _agree_ on anything? Let's go back to those days for like, five minutes please."

"Still stubborn as ever, Harry," Molly sighed, shaking her head.

"No, I just have different priorities." Harry grumbled, and stepped aside. "Now, um… can one of you get the door? Hands are full."

Charity stepped forward and opened the door for him, "Very well, Harry. We'll talk about this later. I just hope that your friend adjusted well to the family."

The door swung open to the sound of half a dozen giggling and screaming voices, and Nerf darts _everywhere_. The walls, ceilings, floors, if it had a surface, there was probably a nerf dart on it. Charity's arms and jaw dropped, while Harry and Molly peeked inside.

"Stars and stones, it's like a warzone!"

At that very moment, the house floor shook, and Pyrrha came sliding around the corner with two nerf guns in hand, firing down the hall. Her tiara had gone missing and her hair was a wild wreck, but what surprised Harry was that she was _smiling!_ And laughing too!

One of Pyrrha's guns clicked empty and she tossed it aside and started running while firing behind her. Mouse came loping behind her a moment later, with a giggling squealing Maggie riding on his back like a horse. Pyrrha got maybe five feet before Mouse bowled her over and all three of them slid to a stop at Charity's feet, with Mouse planted on top of Pyrrha.

Still giggling, Maggie pointed her gun at Pyrrha and fired another dart at her. "Bang, you're out!"

"Oh...darn." Pyrrha laughed, as Mouse got off her. It was only then that she finally became aware of Harry and company.

She pushed herself off the floor, and let out a merry laugh, "Harry, glad to see you again. Oh, and you must be Mrs. Carpenter, a pleasure."

Charity shook her hand and smiled, "The pleasure is mine."

Pyrrha turned to Molly and blinked, "And I… don't believe I know you."

"Molly Carpenter," she said, offering her hand.

When they shook, Pyrrha had to resist the urge to let out a surprised gasp. There was a… power in Molly's touch, an inhuman power that Pyrrha had experienced briefly and knew very well. It was the same power that Lea had possessed, which meant that… Molly was a fae?

She gave Harry a confused look. The man was busy at the moment, setting the pet carrier down and opening it. Mister prowled out and glared at Harry with an injured indignity that only a feline could muster. Then he padded over to Mouse and flicked his tail once at the big dog, who promptly sat down and gave Mister a doggy grin. With the pecking order re-established, Mister trotted off up the stairs and vanished, likely to claim one of the rooms as his new domain.

Harry shook his head and finally noticed the look Pyrrha was giving him.

"Right, Pyrrha, Molly is my former apprentice, and she's here to help us get your memories back."

And like that, the last of Pyrrha's giddy joy from the last half an hour evaporated.

 **A/N: Holiday, sickness, and difficulty with this chapter all delayed me. In the future I plan on rewriting this and chapter 28 to some degree. For now though, it serves its purpose in giving Pyrrha and the reader some levity... Which will all be crashing down, next chapter!**

 **Plots coming back friends, we're on the third act and the climax is coming!**

 **I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you next chapter!**


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

Harry left his stuff by the front door and everyone gathered in the livingroom. At Harry's insistence, the Carpenter children were told to wait upstairs for the time being, leaving Pyrrha, Michael, Charity, Harry, and Molly on the first floor. Michael sat in one of the side chairs with Charity standing attentively by his side, while Pyrrha and Harry sat on the couch. Molly sat awkwardly on the opposite side of the living room table, hands folded together.

Pyrrha sat silent, with her hands clasped in her lap and staring at the floor. Removing the block on her memories was something she had wanted since her arrival on Earth, but now that it was here, she couldn't help but feel a jittery nervousness in her stomach. The idea of someone diving back into her mind was far from appealing as well.

Sensing her unease, Harry clasped her shoulder firmly and said, "I understand if you don't want to do this Pyrrha, trust me I do. Psychomancy isn't pleasant, and last time didn't reveal any happy memories for you. I can figure this out without forcing you to relive them."

Pyrrha nodded, slowly, and looked up at Molly. After seeing the woman move, Pyrrha definitely knew she was a Fae. It was subtle, and Molly seemed unaware of it, but there was an… unnatural grace to the movement of Fae, from what she had seen in the Leanansidhe and Molly; they were like dancers, no movement wasted and every gesture planned. Harry obviously trusted Molly far more than he had Lea, which spoke volumes to Pyrrha about her. But it did not alleviate her fears.

"How would this work?" Pyrrha asked her. "The process, that is. Last time, at the White Council, it was… very invasive."

Though Psychomancy in general seemed to operate on violating her sense of intimacy, perhaps it could not be done any other way. It was not an encouraging thought.

Molly took a moment to think on Pyrrha's question, tapping her lip in thought before answering. "It would depend on what kind of block they used. If someone powerful did it to you, they would have dropped a blanket spell on you. No memory at all, you wouldn't even be aware that they were gone until someone prodded at it enough."

Pyrrha frowned, "You think that's what happened to me?"

"No," Molly shook her head. "From how Harry described it, the block they used sounds like an old one I used… a long time ago. Think of the first one as a lock, it keeps everything secure and hidden away with minimal attention. Yours though, is like someone planted a wall of thorn bushes in your mind, right?"

The striking pain flared in Pyrrha's skull briefly and she winced, "Something like that."

"Right, that means this will be easy by comparison. All I need to do is find the start of the block and just rip it away like a band-aid. If I do it slow, it could cause… permanent damage."

A less than desired outcome.

Pyrrha took a shaky breath, "How long would that take?"

"Depends on how much of your mind is blocked off." Molly quirked her lips, "Though if I had to guess, and if the White Council didn't fudge it up, ten to thirty minutes total. Regardless, it will hurt when I do it. A lot."

"I'm no stranger to pain." Pyrrha admitted, "and I want to know what happened. Why am I here and what happened to my home? If you think you can do that Molly, then you have my full consent to do whatever is necessary."

Harry spoke up, "You sure Pyrrha? There's no turning back once we start, and you might not like what we find. Sometimes there are memories best left forgotten."

He noticeably shuddered at that, no doubt reliving a memory he wished he could forget.

There was truth in his words, Pyrrha wouldn't deny that. The memories the Council did reveal were far from pleasant and had been eating away at her ever since. The Mantle of the Fall Maiden had been at stake, last she remembered, and lives had depended on her decision. More than that though, her conversation with Jaune, whether he had been a dream or not, had shown her that no matter how much it might hurt, however much she would want to forget, it wouldn't undo the events that had unfolded at Beacon.

"This is something I can't put off Harry." she said. "I need to know the truth, regardless of whether I'm ready for it… or not."

Harry sighed and stood up, "Alright then. Molly, what'll you need to pull this off?"

"My wits and a stiff drink afterwards maybe." she said, and chewed on her bottom lip in thought, "I'll also need someone to hold her limbs. If things don't go smoothly, we don't want her flailing randomly everywhere."

Harry had a brief flashback to a typhoon of silverware that had exploded in his kitchen less than three days ago, and said, "We'll want to remove anything with loose metal nearby too, unless anyone wants to do an imitation of a pin-cushion."

No one laughed at Dresden's 'joke'. He grumbled to himself and got to work removing any metal Pyrrha might snag during the spell, along with help from Charity and Michael. Molly noticeably kept to herself, though she remained seated by the table with her eyes closed, taking slow methodical breaths. Preparation for the attempt, that no one was willing to interrupt.

Using her Semblance, Pyrrha directed the Carpenters and Harry for half an hour toward any piece of metal that would be easily moved if she lost control of herself. Batteries, remotes, the television, several lamps, light bulbs, and Harry's comically oversized pistol were all safely stored in another room away from the children and away from Pyrrha.

Harry held out his hand to Pyrrha and said, "And the tiara, don't forget that."

Pyrrha reached up and brushed her fingers against the outer edge of the bronze colored metal. The familiar curves and finish were all she had of home besides her Scroll and weapons, and with Lea's enchantment, Pyrrha had been protected from any more supernatural tricks her opponents tried to play on her mind. Giving it up would leave her vulnerable again, unable to protect the most valuable part of her being.

But it was only temporary, she would have it back again soon. So Pyrrha carefully removed her tiara, and the frozen walls that had stood sentinel over the outer confines of her mind gave way. The sudden warmth and openness that suddenly slammed into her was nearly blinding in its intensity, she hadn't even felt the enchantment until it was gone. Pyrrha handed the tiara to Harry with no further delays, and sat back on the couch.

"Okay… what now?" she asked.

Molly rose with great care, eyes still lightly closed, and almost seemed to drift around the table to the edge of the couch, where she knelt once more. "Lay down." she ordered.

Pyrrha did, and stared at the smooth ceiling with her arms and legs pressed tight against her side. She glanced to the side at the others for encouragement. Harry smiled reassuringly, and gave her a thumbs-up. A small smile worked its way onto Pyrrha's face and she looked up at the ceiling again.

"Harry, her legs." Molly ordered. "Mom, her arms."

Without a word, Charity and Harry moved to their respective positions and carefully did as Molly ordered. They were gentle, but firm; Pyrrha could feel the restrained strength in Harry's arms, which had to be why Molly ordered him at her legs. If she started kicking, no one would be able to hold her down except the wizard himself.

Michael remained at the side, leaning on his cane and watching with rapt attention. The disappointment in his inability to assist was obvious on his face, but he made no comment. He merely waited, in case his assistance was needed.

Molly placed one hand on either side of Pyrrha's face with infinite care, treating Pyrrha like a porcelain doll instead of a person. The tips of her fingers were unnaturally cold on Pyrrha's skin, sending goosebumps rippling down her arms and spine. Molly placed her thumbs on Pyrrha's temples, and spread each finger around the structure of her face.

"Pyrrha…" she spoke in a voice that sounded far away, as if in a dream.

"Yes?"

"I want you to clear your mind. Find something to focus on, something easy you can keep in your mind's eye, and don't let it wander. Can you do that?"

It took less than a second for Pyrrha to close her eyes and conjure a memory of her friends, of Nora and her antics, Ren and his infinite patience in handling said antics, and of Jaune and his bright eyes and determination. Pyrrha focused on their days back in Beacon that felt so long ago now, and lost herself in the memory.

She became vaguely aware of a cool presence slipping into her mind as she did. Unlike the Gatekeeper, whose mind had been warm but very intrusive, Molly had thoughts coated in ice that slid through her thoughts and memories with great care, filling in the gaps with their existence. Pyrrha felt like a glacier had formed in her mind over the process of decades or centuries, but it was realistically about sixty seconds or so.

"This… isn't so… bad…" she whispered softly.

Molly made a gently hushing noise, and replied, "This was just… preparation. The act begins… now."

When the words left her mouth, Pyrrha began to scream.

* * *

"That son of a bitch!" Harry cursed

Half-an-hour had passed since Molly removed the remaining blocks on Pyrrha's memories. The girl had not taken to the procedure kindly and Harry had a dozen new bruises and cuts on his face to show for it. Molly had pulled it off, Pyrrha's memory was now completely restored, as she had promised. Pyrrha hadn't moved from the couch since, slumped forward and staring at her hands with a glazed look in her once-lively green eyes.

Harry and the Carpenters were gathered in the kitchen now, where Molly had relayed everything that had been missing from Pyrrha's memories as Charity tended to Harry's injuries. The man was livid upon hearing the revelation.

"Harry, there's no one person to blame here," Molly said.

"Like hel- heck there is," Harry said, correcting himself at the last moment. "Anyone who's had a five minute conversation with her would know that Pyrrha would never say no to a situation like that. Ozpin manipulated her, and at the cost of an entire city and her life! Far as I'm concerned, that bastard and his cronies are to blame for all of this."

Charity pressed hard with the bandages, eliciting a pained hiss from Harry. She smiled sweetly and said, "Harry, I understand your anger, but if you continue cursing and yelling, I will grab the Iodine, understood?"

Harry gulped, "Yes ma'am."

"Good. Besides, you're missing the point here. It doesn't matter how you feel about this Ozpin's intentions; the events have already unfolded, and he seems to have paid for it dearly."

"I know…" Harry sighed and looked to the living room, where Pyrrha still sat unmoving. "But he's not the only one."

Harry was no stranger to death - he had personally experienced it and could relate with Pyrrha's reaction to finding out the truth. But when Harry had died, it had been unexpected, quick, and painless. Pyrrha had watched everything she had worked for burn to the ground, and when she had confronted the woman responsible, confronted that manipulative _bitch_ Cinder, she'd been tossed aside like trash in a senseless sacrifice.

The worst part about it though? According to Molly, Pyrrha had no idea why she was on Earth, who might have saved her and dropped her there. The last thing she remembered before waking up in that back alley was Cinder killing her.

That was one thing that was consistent at least: Cinder. She seemed to be the mastermind here, the center of the conspiracy and the new Fall Maiden. Pyrrha had made her choice to accept the Mantle of the Fall Maiden, even if the procedure violated every natural law in existence, but it wasn't enough. Cinder had stolen the power out from under her nose, and from the sound of things, was on a whole new level, a living demigod even to the people of Remnant.

But something had happened since then. Someone or something had managed to hurt Cinder, badly. It wasn't Pyrrha, Molly said she hadn't managed to injure Cinder in the slightest. But that didn't explain the scars and other ghastly injuries Harry had seen on her when they'd met at Mac's. Was it just an act to stir his sympathy? He didn't think so. It appeared that the woman was genuinely crippled, but by what, or whom?

"For every answer we receive, a dozen more questions are raised." Michael sighed, having come to the same conclusion.

Charity strapped the last bandage to Harry's cheek and began packing up her medical supplies. Harry rubbed at his forehead with the palm of his hand, "I'm honestly lost here. There aren't any more leads to follow. The portals are a problem, but they're a symptom, not a cause. Torchwick made it clear he doesn't know crap, and Pyrrha only gave us context. I don't have the foggiest idea where Cinder could be. I'm not even sure she's the real mastermind here."

Molly raised a brow, "You thinking there's a someone pulling her strings Harry?"

"It's the only way to explain the portals. Bob said they're the equivalent of a magical nuclear reactor in how complex and volatile they are. If Cinder can pull off that kind of magic, then there's not a lot I can do to stop her."

Harry glanced down the hall, "Especially with Pyrrha out of the game."

Charity slid the first-aid kit under the kitchen sink and closed the cabinet door before returning to them and taking a seat next to Michael. "Give her time to process it Harry. She's been through a lot."

Drumming his fingers against the table, Harry continued looking down the hall, with his lips quirked to the side in thought. "Maybe I should go talk to her."

Molly sighed, "Harry, leave her be. Pyrrha's very… lost right now. She just needs time."

"But we don't _have_ time. I'd love to just leave her be. The kid's suffered enough as it is. Thing is, there's an invasion of monsters lead by a demigod monster bearing down on the city. We need all the help we can get, and I'm not just going to sit here and whine about it. The answers to our problems aren't going to come knocking at the door."

No sooner had the words left Harry's mouth, did the doorbell ring. All eyes turned to the door in shock, and Molly snickered at the timing.

"I… guess I'll get it." Harry said, and stood from his seat. It occurred to him as he approached the door that he might want to take a few precautions when he opened it. There was no telling who might be on the other side of the door: It could be Cinder herself as far as he knew.

Harry paused at the door and peered through the peephole at the mysterious visitor. His jaw dropped in shock, and without pause, Harry nearly ripped the door off its hinges to reveal the timely visitor.

Karrin Murphy had a new set of clothes, a dark T-shirt and jeans, and wore a sports jacket that was unbuttoned. Thin white marks covered the right side of her face in a mass of scar tissue that extended up to her button nose, and she held herself with a smug if pained posture. Interestingly, the part of her face not covered in scars looked different as well. Wrinkles that had slowly appeared over the years had been smoothed away with a youthful paint. The exhaustion that came with age that had manifested itself in the bags under her eyes was gone, replaced with sparkling energy desperate to escape. Harry recognized it as the same effect in Pyrrha's eyes, and it made Murphy's blue eyes glimmer like gemstones. She also wore the biggest smirk possible on her face.

"Hey Dresden, miss me?"

"Karrin...you...here...what...h-h-how!?" he finally stuttered out.

Somehow, her smirk grew wider. "How do you think? This Aura stuff works fast, though I'm still getting waves of… tingling…"

She shuddered on cue, and Harry saw a brief sparkle of energy along her cheek. When it faded, the scars outer edge had become smoother and begun fading further into her skin.

Harry tried and failed not to gawk as he asked, "Y-you… you're sure you're okay? I mean, after the accident, should you even be walking around at all?"

Murphy bounced on the balls of her feet, still grinning, "I might be sore Harry, but I feel like a teenager again! Where's Pyrrha, I have _got_ to thank her for this."

His face must have changed into something ugly, because Murphy immediately stopped grinning and spoke with concern. "Harry, what happened?"

Harry sighed and waved inside, "Come on, we'll have Molly explain."

"Molly? She's here too? What did I miss?"

"More than you think, but less than you hope."

They returned to the kitchen and after Murphy said hello to everyone, Molly gave her an in-depth summary of what they'd learned from Pyrrha's memories.

It could be summarized as such: After Ozpin gave Pyrrha the ultimatum on the Fall Maiden, Pyrrha was wracked with indecision and worry over her choice, not helped by being unable to actually talk with anyone about it. Because of her fragile emotional state, her self-control began to waver. During her last tournament fight, Pyrrha was tricked by Emerald's illusion Semblance into believing her opponent's attack was greater than it was. Coupled with the emotional turmoil, Pyrrha overreacted, literally tearing her opponent apart. This revealed the girl to, in fact, be an android.

Cinder used this shocking revelation to deliver a speech to the public that created enough negative emotions to drag an entire horde of Grimm onto Beacon, including a never before seen dragon-like Grimm that quickly turned the city into a lost cause. With nothing to lose, Pyrrha went to Ozpin to accept the Fall Maidens power. Cinder, however, was able to interrupt the process before it could begin and steal the rest of the power for herself. Ozpin stayed behind and fought Cinder, but was ultimately defeated; Cinder then made her way to the top of the CCTS tower while Pyrrha and Jaune were left at the base to debate what to do. Pyrrha, seeing no other way, had sent Jaune away, against his will. She confronted Cinder on her own in a final attempt to set right what had gone wrong, which lead directly to what should have been her death.

When Molly finished, Murphy was slumped forward in her seat with a sorrowful expression on her face. "And that's everything?"

"All I could find." Molly confirmed.

Murphy fell back in her chair, "Son of… it's like her entire life is an over the top fantasy movie. How long has it been since you learned this?"

Harry glanced at the kitchen clock. "An hour or so now. We're not sure what to do, without any leads."

Sparing no moment to hesitate, Murphy stood up from her chair and looked to the living room, "Well, I know what _I'm_ going to do."

"Karrin…" Harry said.

She stopped and looked at him with a raised brow. Harry scratched at the back of his head, "Just… be gentle."

That made Karrin smile, "Come on Harry, it's me." She walked off before he had a chance to retort.

Karrin walked into the living room with deliberate slowness, and stopped when she saw Pyrrha. It was odd seeing her without her tiara, and seeing her so devoid of life. Pyrrha could admittedly disappear from a conversation if she wanted to, but that had always seemed intentional to Karrin. When she didn't, there was always an energy to the young woman, a glow of life about her. Even at her saddest, Pyrrha seemed to be filled with _life._

Now she just looked dead.

Karrin moved slowly and without a sound toward Pyrrha and she eased into the empty space next to her young friend. Pyrrha remained unchanged, completely oblivious to Karrin's presence.

Yet, despite the lack of acknowledgement, Karrin didn't opt to break the silence. All she did was reach out and take Pyrrha's hand in her own, and gave it an affirmative squeeze. Pyrrha blinked once, and her head swiveled to Karrin. The lifeless glaze in her eyes was so unlike her, that Karrin almost felt her heart break.

"It's okay Pyrrha," she whispered. "We can fix this, together."

Pyrrha didn't say anything. She turned her head forward again and seemed to forget Karrin was even there at all.

"Miss Pyrrha?"

Karrin blinked and turned around to see… Maggie and mouse at the living room entrance. The little girl looked concerned at Pyrrha's state. The sound of feet followed a moment later and the Carpenter children appeared behind Maggie. Obviously she had snuck out of their room to see what all the hubbub was about. They stopped when they saw Murphy and Pyrrha and stood awkwardly behind Maggie.

Karrin gave a little smile at the little girl and said, "It's okay Maggie. Pyrrha is just… having a hard day."

Maggie shuffled forward, with Mouse trudging behind her, and pulled herself up onto the couch next to Pyrrha. She sat cross legged and looked at Pyrrha with an expression one wouldn't see on a girl her age. Complete and total understanding.

"I heard Molly and daddy say something about remembering something. Is that what happened, did Miss Pyrrha remember something bad?"

Karrin gave a silent nod.

Maggie got onto her knees and hugged Pyrrha around the neck. It was the kind of awkward hug only a kid could give, tight around Pyrrha's throat and filling her face with her hair. The smell of strawberry shampoo filled Pyrrha's nose and she blinked and looked at Maggie for the first time.

Maggie pulled back and whispered to her, "I have bad memories too. From the… the Draculas. I thought I couldn't forget them, but…"

Mouse laid his big head on the couch and made a whimpering noise that seemed to thunder in Pyrrha's ears.. Maggie scratched the dog behind the ears and said, "Mouse is good for helping with bad memories, and daddy can beat monsters. If… if you want, you can borrow them for a little, Miss Pyrrha."

Pyrrha's hand tightened around Karrin's, and with her other arm, she wrapped Maggie in a tight hug as tears began to freely pour from her face in rivers. She trembled as she cried, unleashing a torrent of emotions into each tiny sob. Regret, anger, despair flowed from her, but one emotion trumped all three.

Hope.

What happened at Beacon, what happened to her was terrible, a disaster that Pyrrha was tormented by. But that couldn't stop her, not now and not ever. Despite all that had happened, despite Cinder burning her alive from the inside out, Pyrrha was still alive. What had been done to her, to the Fall Maiden, to Penny, to Jaune, and, to the people of Remnant could be undone. She had the skills, she had the drive, but most importantly, Pyrrha had the allies to make it happen.

Karrin let out a surprised yelp when Pyrrha pulled her into the hug, holding both her and Maggie tightly. Maggie giggled and hugged them both in return, happy to see Pyrrha active.

Karrin sneezed.

Loudly.

Pyrrha sniffled and let out a small chuckle, "B-bless you…"

Karrin wiped at her nose and scrunched up her face, "I see Mouse was sure to acquaint himself with you already."

The young red-head looked at Mouse, and smiled at him. His tail started thumping happily against the ground, sending shockwaves through the living room, accompanied by happy dog noises.

Pyrrha sniffed again and released Karrin and Maggie, then scratched Mouse behind the ears. "I… I… thank you… both of you."

Karrin hadn't let go of Pyrrha's hand, and squeezed it again, "Its what friends do, right? Besides, you're stronger than that. A mental whammy wouldn't keep you down forever."

Pyrrha swallowed and hung her head, "I just… wanted answers so bad, wanted to know what happened… but then I finally had them and just wanted to forget it all again. Ironic, isn't it?"

"Molly always says," Maggie spoke up, "That when you remember the bad memories, to just think about the good memories, and if you don't have enough good memories, make more of them."

A smile spread over Pyrrha's face and she wiped the tears from her eyes. She raised her head and smiled at Maggie, "Then… I guess I've made plenty of new good memories here, haven't I?"

"All in a day's work!" Maggie chirped, with her hands on her hips. Mouse made a huffing sound of agreement.

Pyrrha tussled her brown hair and said, "Thank you Maggie. Really."

The little girl giggled and hopped off the couch. Pyrrha pushed herself up and took a moment to adjust to the blood rushing to her head. There were things to do, and while she wasn't sure if she would ever be okay with what happened at Beacon, Maggie did make a good point. Whatever events had happened in the past, it was up to Pyrrha to shape her future, and she would _never_ let Beacon happen again.

"Murphy, is Molly still here?" she asked.

"Present," the woman said.

Pyrrha and company looked at the living room entrance, where it seemed the entire Carpenter family, and Harry, had decided to eavesdrop on Pyrrha's moment. For some reason though, she could only smile and shake her head at them.

"Right, right." Pyrrha took a deep breath. "Molly, thank you for what you did. You've made my life so much easier, and answered many of my questions. Thank you."

Molly shrugged, "Eh, all in a day's work."

"Really?" Pyrrha raised a brow, and felt her smile return, "Well, I guess I was wrong. There really are positives to having a Fae on your side, right Harry?"

It was like she had dropped a bomb in the middle of the room. Molly's expression shifted into one of sheer horror and mortification. Harry slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand, and Murphy buried her face in her hands before letting out a long suffering sigh.

One of the Carpenter kids, Hope, spoke up, "Fae? What do you mean?"

Pyrrha spoke before she realized what she was doing, "Well Molly's obviously a Fae. I mean, there's no way she's human, right?"

Harry turned around and began hammering his head against the nearest wall with methodical intent. Molly looked about ready to book it for the front door and never return to the Carpenter household again. It was only then that Pyrrha realized that maybe she should have kept her mouth shut.

Michael and Charity Carpenter both looked at their daughter, then at each other. Then they said in unison, "Wait, that was supposed to be a secret?"

 **A/N: There were five scenes I REALLY wanted to do when I started this fic. Pyrrha's arrival, her fight with Mercury and Emerald, and the climatic final battle, and the next chapter or two are a combination of the five.**

 **Molly has always been a controversial character for me. To say I disliked her when I first met her... would be totally accurate. To say that Proven Guilty made me despise her... would be an understatement. As a victim of EMOTIONAL manipulation, I absolutely HATED Molly when she became an actual character. Over time she's grown on me, but I still don't like her. Tolerate her is a better word. Hence why I pulled the rug out from under her and made her woman the fuck up and take her nums from Charity and Michael.**

 **The fallout will be dealt with next chapter, along with some other surprising twists. I'll see you all then, and remember to review with comments and criticism!**

 **Until next time!**


	32. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

"...Wait… you already knew Molly was the new Winter Lady?" Harry asked. He sounded genuinely surprised, like he couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth.

Michael and Charity exchanged looks again. "Well, no. We had our suspicions that Molly had gotten involved with the Fae. We didn't know about _that_ though. Thank you for clarifying Harry."

"Yeah, _thanks_ Harry." Molly growled. Harry looked sheepish and small under Molly's glare. If looks could kill, Harry would be a smoldering pile of ash on the floor. Pyrrha now _desperately_ wished that she hadn't said a word. If she could sink into the floor to escape the chagrin she now felt, she would have, gladly.

Michael coughed into his hand, stopping Molly in her tracks before she decided to strangle Harry and Pyrrha on the spot. "Molly, please don't change the subject."

She slumped against the nearest wall and sighed. "I… when? How?"

Michael found the nearest chair and slowly fell into it, letting out a relieved sigh as the weight on his leg lessened. After settling into the chair, he said, "Since the heist. Hades had several large statues in his vault. One of them was of you."

He sent Harry a look, and the wizard suddenly took a great interest in the ceiling. Michael shook his head and continued. "At the time I wrote it off as coincidence. But after the dust settled, Charity and I talked about it and compared notes. That's how we came to the conclusion that, at the very least, you were very involved with the Fae."

"That's it?" Molly asked. "A statue was all it took for my secret to get out?"

Charity moved to sand beside Michael, and spoke in a gentle tone, "Molly, you have been acting… different for almost a year now. I had suspicions ever since Harry came back. You've been much more… reserved than you used to be. Colder too, physically colder. It was obvious something was affecting you."

"The group of armed men living across the street from us were also a giveaway." Michael added.

Molly blushed, "You caught that huh?"

"I've spent most of my life in some form of combat Molly." Michael reminded her. "Of course I did. Please give you dear old father _some_ credit."

Pyrrha really wasn't sure what any of them were referring to at this point. She thought about asking Murphy, but decided to keep her questions to herself until Molly and her parents sorted this mess out. She had already said far too much as it was.

"I just wanted to protect you guys after what happened last time." Molly explained. She sounded like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Not everyone who might come after you is going to be supernatural."

Charity smiled, "And we're grateful for it Molly, really we are."

"Then why do I feel like I'm being punished? If you guys knew this whole time, then why didn't you say anything?"

The two exchanged another meaningful look. Michael spoke this time, much more gently. "You're an adult now Molly. Your mother and I both agreed that we wouldn't confront you on this; we would wait until _you_ were ready to confide in us."

Molly wiped frost from her eyes and folded her arms, "Well… now you know. I'm not even human anymore, just a replacement for a broken idol."

"Oh, honey…" Charity walked up to Molly and put her hands on the young woman's shoulders. She looked deep into her daughter's eyes and said, "You may not be human anymore, but you're still our Molly. And no matter what situation you've found yourself in, your heart has _always_ been in the right place. I couldn't be prouder of you, and the Fae should count themselves _fortunate_ to have someone like you in charge."

Molly sniffled and hugged Charity tight. They were joined a moment later by her siblings, in a large group hug. Only Michael remained sitting, but he was smiling ear to ear.

"Aw, see? Everything worked out!" Harry chirped.

Charity and Molly broke their hug and glared at him. Mouse made a huffing sound and placed a paw over his face.

"And I killed the mood, didn't I?"

"Kinda."

"Yes."

Harry scratched at the back of his head and smiled awkwardly, "Sorry about that."

At the very least, Pyrrha was grateful it was Harry that killed the mood and not her. Still, she couldn't just leave entirely alone, so she spoke up. "Er, Molly? I'm sorry about giving away your secret. I'm not normally that… blunt."

Molly blinked and looked at Pyrrha, and grinned, "Oh I know. I was in your head, remember? Anyway, don't worry about it. I'll get you back someday, but right now we've got business to take care of."

That promise of payback made the hairs on the back of Pyrrha's neck stand on end. She had a feeling that at some point, she'd really regret speaking out like she had. Hopefully Molly wouldn't take it too far…

"Alright," Molly clapped her hands together. "Hobbit, why don't you and the others head back upstairs?"

"What, why?" Hope, or Hobbit, asked.

Molly smiled, "Because I've got some business to discuss with Harry and I'd rather keep it on the downlow. Less people know, the better."

"But I'm right here," Harry Carpenter said, grinning.

Hobbit elbowed him again, before Alicia and Amanda grabbed them both by the shoulders and nodded at Molly. "Right, give us a holler when you're done."

Molly gave them the thumbs up as they left. Once they were gone, she turned around and opened her mouth, then paused when she saw Maggie was still sitting next to Pyrrha and Murphy.

"Maggie, why don't you go with them?"

Maggie grabbed Pyrrha's arm, "Nah-ah. Miss Pyrrha still needs me and Mouse, I can tell!"

Pyrrha raised a brow at that, as did Molly. She was an unusually perceptive little girl, Pyrrha would give her that. Still, if Molly wanted to discuss business, that really was not for a little girl, even if she would stubbornly insist otherwise.

"Maggie, I'll be okay," Pyrrha assured her.

Maggie stuck her lower lip out in an adorable pout and crossed her arms, "I've seen a lot of grown up stuff. I can handle business."

The room grew awkwardly quiet at that. A pained expression flashed over Harry's face, before it vanished and he walked over to the couch and plucked Maggie off it into his arms. "Alright, you can stay Maggie. But if I think it's too much for you to listen to, you're going to go with the rest of the Carpenter children, okay?"

Maggie giggled and wrapped her arms around her father's neck, "K!" she chirped.

There was a look in Harry's eyes when she did that, even under the physical trauma that had turned his face into a kaleidoscope, of pure bliss. Whatever the challenges and troubles, Pyrrha could tell that just having Maggie around made Harry happier than she had ever seen the man since she met him, and that was something to smile about.

Pyrrha scooted over so Harry could sit next to Murphy while Maggie sat in his lap. Molly sighed and rolled her eyes, wearing a bemused smile on her face. She walked over to free chair to their right and moved it so she was facing everyone, including Michael and Charity, who had moved to stand next to her husband again.

"Right then," Molly took a deep breath, "I _was_ going to wait until Harry and I had a moment of peace to tell him this, but since the cat is out of the bag, I might as well just come out and say it."

She looked Pyrrha dead in the eye, and said, "Pyrrha, I know how to send you home."

Cinder herself could have walked in and set the entire house ablaze, and Pyrrha wouldn't have noticed. Her entire mind went completely blank, save for those seven words. The very idea that she could go home, it… it changed everything. Home, she could go home!

"Temporarily, that is." Molly added when she saw the look on everyone's faces.

And like that, the magic was gone.

"Temp...temporarily? Why?" She didn't mean to, but Pyrrha felt her frustration slip into her voice. Why could nothing ever be easy, did the universe simply take some sort of perverse pleasure in dashing her hopes!?

"I think the better question is," Harry added, "how do you know that?"

Molly tapped the side of her head, "Remember when you bound yourself to Demonreach Harry, and you gained a localized Intelluctus?"

"Intell-what?" Charity asked.

"Basically a magical search engine," Molly quickly explained. "If you think about something within the Intelluctus's parameters, you know it instantly. When I became the Winter Lady, I got the Intellectus that came with it."

Harry frowned, "Maeve had an Intellectus, really?"

Molly gave him a deadpan look, "Harry, do you really think Maeve actually trained a day in her life to control her power? Or that Lily actually went through the same training we did? Magic for Fae is… it's as easy as breathing to access and use it, but you still have to understand it in some way or another to use it well. That's where the Intellectus comes in. After that whole mess with Demonreach, I decided to do a little research into the whole Outsider mess, understand what I was thrown into."

"And?" Murphy asked. "That's how you learned how to send Pyrrha home?"

Molly nodded, "Yeah… kinda. The Multiverse is… complicated. It's kinda… well sorta… Hold on, this is difficult to explain with just words."

She closed her eyes and waved a hand while muttering under her breath. To everyone's surprise, what looked like a neon blue river formed on top of the living room table. The brook had an almost glassy sheen to its surface, with barely a ripple until it reached the end of the table and slowly faded into nothingness. Pyrrha, Michael and Charity stared in surprise at the table, Harry rolled his eyes, and Maggie made a curious noise before reaching out and touching the 'river'. Her fingers passed through without disturbing the water's edge, which meant it was an illusion.

"Maggie dear," Molly said, opening her eyes, "please don't mess with the Time Stream."

Harry gently grabbed his daughter's hand and pulled her back onto his lap where she pouted.

"Thank you Harry." Molly said, and took a deep breath. "In order to understand the Multiverse, you have to understand its one constant, Time. While it's a bit of a cliche and really simplifies things, Time really does function like a stream. It's always flowing forward and is impossible to actually turn back. But on occasion, like with an actual river, Time sometimes branches off."

At her words, several distributaries flowed from the sides of the river in graceful flowing arcs that slowly looped back into the main time-stream. Molly continued her explanation with, "But there is no such thing as an 'alternate-timeline'. All Time comes back to the main stream eventually."

"Okay, cool," Murphy said, though her tone suggested otherwise. "But what does this have to do with getting Pyrrha home?"

Molly raised a hand, "I'm getting to that. See, in the Time Stream, we have individual universes. In this case, ours."

With another wave of her hand, an ocean liner appeared in the tiny river. It had a sleek black hull and white decks, with four angled smokestacks that billowed with a glimmering light. Labeled on its prow in golden lettering, was the name _T.S.S Earth_.

"Each universe in the Multiverse is self contained, like a ship on the ocean. The outer limits protect the passengers from the dangers of the Timestream, and lets it follow the flow."

"That explains the heck out of Shark-face…" Harry muttered under his breath.

"Of course," Molly continued, "It's a little more complicated than that. For every action we take a new universe where the opposite action was chosen is formed. Under most circumstances though, these changes are so mundane that in the grand scheme of things, they don't mean anything."

Harry raised his hand. Molly rolled her eyes, "Yes Harry?"

He lowered his hand and asked, "What about the Butterfly Effect. You know, butterfly flaps its wings in Asia, it causes a tornado in Kansas. That has no effect?"

"The Butterfly Effect is a heaping load." Molly said simply. "Our choices might create tiny differences, but they won't lead to one universe as a Utopia and the other as an Orwellian Nightmare. The problem is though, we have no idea what counts as a big choice or a small choice, so…"

"Right, got it." Harry nodded.

Molly sighed, "Really, if I wanted to be accurate, the boat would look like this."

The liner flickered, like a television with bad reception, then began splitting. A thousand copies, all occupying the same space, began moving in and out of the central figure, veering left then right then back again, some speeding forward and others slowing down. Behind them, was an infinite line of identical ships experiencing the same confusing pattern. It was… painful to look at. Molly waved her hand and the image went solid again.

"That's where deja vu comes from, by the way. One of those universes veering a little too close, and ahead, makes you see what might be."

Pyrrha made a noise of annoyance, "Okay, but what does this have to do with getting me home?" She was trying to be patient, she really was, but this was frustrating!

Luckily, Molly got the hint. Another ship, nearly identical to the first, pulled up alongside it. But on its prow, read the name _T.S.S Remnant_.

"Because of how the Multiverse works, you don't get people popping into other universes randomly. It takes a conscious, driven, effort to send someone between realms, and it's not something some hack can pull off either. If you don't have some sort of cosmic ritual or focal point for pulling it off, then your next bet is raw power."

On cue, there was a tiny cannon shot from the Remnant into Earth.

"That's pretty much how it goes. Like firing a cannon, except the devil is in the details." Molly said. "See, reality doesn't like it when something from one universe intersects with another, so eventually, the universe the foreign object is from will eventually pull it back. Kind of like a rubber band."

Understanding dawned in Pyrrha's eyes. "So that's why it's temporary. I'll be pulled back by… this universe? Wait, now I'm confused again."

Molly sighed, "When you were sent here Pyrrha, you were bound to Earth. As far as Reality is concerned, you belong here now. If I could undo it I would, but that's not really within my power."

Harry raised his hand again. Molly rolled her eyes again. "Yes Harry?"

He lowered his hand and asked, "Where do the Blackstones fit in then? They don't seem very cannony."

"Right, that." Molly took a breath. "When I mentioned rituals, I was referring to something like the Blackstones. Those portals are basically like… bridges, between universes."

A metal bridge formed between the two ships, locking them in place.

"The problem with those kind of rituals though, is that, like a bridge, too much power can put on too much of a strain. And if one universe suddenly hits a current that pushes it ahead, the bridge snaps and you get dragged back to your world. But, from what you've all told me about these Blackstone's, it seems that, well…"

The metal bridge suddenly shifted and changed, adding arches underneath it and cables above it until it grew into a solid and sturdy structure that prevented either liner from moving too far ahead of the other.

"So they're supporting one another…" Murphy said, understanding in her voice.

Molly nodded, "Probably. This lets the user stay connected to their original universe without worrying about being pulled back, I think. I haven't looked into ritual crossings that much, they're too long and complicated normally."

"Until now," Harry said.

"Right, until now…"

Molly rubbed at her face and let out a sigh, "Anyway, with the method I would use… well, under normal circumstances, I wouldn't even suggest it. Problem with firing a cannon is that you have to know where to aim. I've never been to Pyrrha's world, so I'd be firing blind. She could land somewhere safe, or at the bottom of the ocean, or go flying through space. And assuming she didn't do any of those, I could wind up sending her a thousand years into the past or future. Too many variables normally."

"I'm sensing a big but here," Harry said.

Molly sighed, "But, Pyrrha is a special case. Because unlike most people, she has a lifeline to Remnant and back."

Pyrrha stared at Molly with her confusion plain on her face, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Remember when you did your whole Aura unlocking thingy?" Molly asked. Pyrrha nodded.

"Well, that did more than just give your boyfriend a fighting chance and turn back Murphy's biological clock. Intentional or not, you've left a little bit of yourself with both of them. That's why you were able to talk to him in your dream last night."

"Wait, you did what?" Harry asked, looking at Pyrrha with a surprised expression.

Pyrrha ducked her head, "With everything else going on, that… didn't seem very important."

Harry groaned, "Pyrrha, when this is over, you and I are going to have a long talk about keeping important information a secret from people."

It was by God's good grace that the sheer hypocrisy of Harry's statement didn't kill him on the spot. Murphy glared daggers at him instead, while Michael pinched his nose and shook his head.

Maggie giggled though, and chanted, "Pyrrha's got a boyfriend, Pyrrha's got a boyfriend!"

Pyrrha turned away before anyone saw the blush on her face and said, "Right, well, what's your point Molly?"

"My point…" Molly sighed, "Is that I can use that link you share to send you right to Jaune, and when Earth pulls you back, you'll pop in wherever Murphy is. No worry about time being off or landing in an ocean. As long as neither of them have been poured in concrete, you'll be fine."

That… was actually rather comforting. Molly had explained the risks and Pyrrha was about ready to just give up on the idea as a whole. But there was a chance now, a real chance for her to get home and let everyone know she was alive! There was only one catch…

"How long would I have?"

Molly winced and the illusion faded. She bit her lip and said, "Fifteen minutes… twenty, tops."

 **A/N: Admittedly short, but... that's for pacing mostly. This was an expository chapter, obviously, mostly meant to explain some of how the multiverse works in this story. Not the most original, but it keeps it simple. This is the mostly unedited chapter, as neither editor is available and I am INCREDIBLY impatient, so expect some changes sometime tomorrow.**

 **Otherwise, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, make sure to review and let me know what you thought, or leave your critiques. Either way, I'll see you guys on Saturday, when the next chapter will be... a bit different.**


	33. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

Jaune normally woke up when the sun rose. Several months on the road had hammered the habit into him and his team. Traveling at night through Remnant was dangerous, so they had to use all the daylight they had available to them, before they would camp for the night, taking turns watching the perimeter for any Grimm that might creep, crawl, or slither upon them..

This was the first time Jaune woke up before the sun had crested the horizon, and for good reason. The dream had felt so real, like he was actually talking to Pyrrha and not a figment of his imagination. He could even still feel her kiss after waking up, and that never happened when he dreamed. Him feeling things from his dreams after waking up that is.

Any attempt to go back to sleep after that was met with miserable failure. After thirty fruitless minutes of staring up at the trees trying to will himself to sleep, Jaune had given up and gotten up to prepare the camp. He spent the next hour or so packing up supplies and relighting the campfire. In the back of his mind he knew what he was really doing.

Busy-work, to keep his mind off the dream. Off of Pyrrha.

It helped with the ache in his chest, but he couldn't shake his mind away from the dream. There had to be something more to it, something he had missed. Losing Pyrrha still hurt; maybe his subconscious was starting to be overcome with guilt. It wouldn't be the first time Jaune beat himself up over what happened at Beacon.

But this hadn't felt like a guilt-induced fever dream. It all came back to how it felt. There was too much coherency for it to just be a dream, but if that was the case… did that mean Pyrrha was alive? Really, truly alive? Even when reason suggested that line of thought was impossible, he struggled against it. If he gave up, he would lose hope, and he couldn't - wouldn't do that to his team: They needed him to keep moving forward with them.

This was what antagonized Jaune until the first rays of sunlight broke through the forest canopy. Mistral's forests were unlike anything he had seen in Vale; while Vale had oversized oak and pine trees, Mistral's had wide canopies and bare trunks that stretched dozens of feet into the air. The ground was different too, much more muddy and malleable, and overgrown with flora.

The bad news about this was that it railroaded Jaune and his team onto the road and kept them blind to anything that might be stalking them. Even their camp was only a few feet off to the side of the stone cobbled path. The good news though, was that foraging for kindling and firewood was easy.

When the sun finally did break through that thick canopy, the rest of team RNJR, as they had ultimately agreed to call themselves (much to Nora's chagrin), began to stir from their sleep.

Ruby was up first; she sat up with a bad case of bed head and yawned. She blinked her silver eyes when she saw Jaune sitting by the fire. "You're up early."

Jaune shrugged, "Woke up early. Couldn't fall back asleep. Breakfast is ready when you're hungry."

"Mmm, food." Nora red-head rose from her sleeping bag in a zombie-like stupor, and sniffed. "Is that toast?"

Jaune looked at the breakfast he'd assembled. They couldn't carry a lot of refrigerated items with them, so most of their supplies consisted of grains and canned goods. For breakfast it was a loaf of bread and energy bars. Again.

"Well, kinda?" he admitted.

"It's food! Gimme!" Nora replied.

And that was how the morning started. Nora and Ruby ate in relative silence until Ren finally woke up and joined them. Jaune suspected that while Ren had been awake even before the girls, he stayed wrapped up in his bedroll to savor the peace and quiet. Nora certainly gave them little enough once they resumed their trek. Once Ren had eaten, Jaune pulled out the map and they went over where they were headed next. With Xione a smoking ruin, they'd have to move on to the next village before they could pick up supplies again. The rest of the trip to the city of Mistral would still have to be on foot, an idea that none of them were particularly thrilled about.

They didn't have a choice though, Xione was the only village with an airship for miles. Without it, hoofing it was the only option left. Jaune had realized this the night before, but given what they had witnessed, he didn't want to bring it up at the time. Everyone had been exhausted on a physical and mental level after that night: Jaune didn't have the heart to add to it.

Ren rolled up the map once they had decided on the next path, and stood up. "We should get going. We've got a long walk ahead of us."

"At least we remembered the map this time," Ruby pointed out, and smiled weakly. Nora shrugged sheepishly, and swallowed one last slice of toast whole.

Afterwards, they doused the fire and packed up the rest of their camp, before heading on their way. Jaune was thankful he'd finally sprung for new shoes after all this time. His old sneakers had been worn all the way through to the sole, and his new hiking boots made the world's longest hike much more bearable. He adjusted his shoulder straps and sighed to himself as they walked. It may have been less uncomfortable, but it was still far from enjoyable.

It was a bit odd for Jaune to complain this much, mentally or otherwise, but he preferred it to thinking about the dream. By this point, Jaune had come to the conclusion that there was more to it than his subconscious shaming him. It was real, it had to be real.

A ray of sunshine pierced the canopy and hit Jaune square in the eye. He stumbled in surprise, but quickly recovered.

Ruby slowed to walk beside him and glanced at him in concern. "You okay, Jaune?"

He rubbed at his eyes and noticed for the first time that he had fallen behind everyone else as they walked. Normally he was right up front with Ruby, while Ren and Nora kept a watch on their rear.

Jaune shook his head, "Yeah, I'm fine… just… fine."

A small frown tugged at her lips, and her voice dropped to a whisper, "Bad dreams again?"

When they had started this journey almost six months ago, Jaune had suffered more than a few nasty nightmares. Everyone had: They had survived the destruction or an entire city, and it would've been more troubling if they hadn't had nightmares. But Jaune's had persisted the longest, and loved coming back when he least expected it. If anything, they'd become more intense as the days stretched into weeks.

He sighed, "No, it's just… it's nothing Ruby. I'm fine, really."

If he told them about his dream and what he thought it meant, they'd think he was crazy. Heck, Jaune would think the same thing if someone told him they'd had a dream about their dead girlfriend telling them they were trapped in another world. Keeping it a secret might be for the best.

No, no it wasn't! It was the secrets and lies that dragged them into this mess in the first place. Jaune still had no idea what Cinder had done to get so powerful, or what that machine underneath the CCTS was meant to do. For whatever reason, Pyrrha and Ozpin had kept secrets from them, and Beacon was a Grimm-infested ruin because of it. He was not going to go down that same path, even if what he was about to say sounded absolutely pants-on-head crazy.

"Wait, guys…" Jaune said. Everyone stopped and looked at him. Ren's face was unreadable as always, and Nora looked perplexed. Ruby wore a concerned expression.

Jaune sighed and scratched at the back of his head, "Listen, this is going to sound… well, it's insane, but I think Pyrrha is alive."

Ruby's concerned expression promptly spread to Ren and Nora. The former put the map away and said, "Jaune, we've had a rough few days... Maybe we should camp early-"

"I'm not crazy Ren." Jaune cut him off, and his shoulders slumped, "I know it… sounds like it - I barely believe it myself - but last night I had this… well, I had a dream. Pyrrha talked to me in it, and she's alive. Just… not on Remnant."

Nora and Ren exchanged a look. Ruby looked heartbroken. "Jaune, what happened to Pyrrha was hard on all of us, but… I know what I saw."

"And so do I!" Jaune shot back. Was his voice harsher than it needed to be? Probably, but he was frustrated. Not with their disbelief, but that the only evidence he had was a damn dream! But it was real, it had to be!

Nora walked up to Jaune and put a hand on his shoulder, "Jaune, I miss Pyrrha too. People don't come back after that though, no matter how hard we want them to."

Jaune closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I know it sounds crazy, and maybe it is, but there's no way I can convince you guys for sure. All I have is that dream for proof, it's not like I can hold out my arms and expect her to fall from the sky!"

A flash of white light lit up the forest and the very sky above screamed as it was split in two, sucking in the air around with ferocious intensity, and… Pyrrha Nikos, dressed in a white t-shirt and jeans, and wearing a ratty pair of sneakers, fell from the hole and into Jaune's outstretched arms. He was caught completely off guard and though he caught her, he fell flat on his back with a groan. The sky promptly sealed itself shut as though nothing had happened, and the forest went dead silent.

Pyrrha blinked stars out of her eyes and cursed Molly for not giving her a proper warning before throwing her through the portal. It was a curse cut short though, when she realized she was sitting on something soft. Once her vision cleared, she looked down and saw Jaune laying on the ground, letting out a pained moan.

A smile rippled across Pyrrha's face, and she looked up to see Ren and Nora standing dumbstruck with their mouths hanging wide open. Ruby had pulled her weapon loose in the initial excitement, but upon seeing Pyrrha, it clattered to the ground. Her heart began pounding with excited relief, and Pyrrha said the first thing that came to mind.

"...Hello again!"

* * *

"Oh Pyrrha!"

After Pyrrha got off Jaune and helped him back to his feet, she immediately found herself glomped by a tearful Nora. It was a painful reminder that what had been a few days for Pyrrha had been months for her friends. It was also a painful reminder of just how strong Nora was.

Pyrrha gasped for air as Nora lifted her into the air and swung her from side to side while crying, "Oh I knew you were alive the whole time, I knew it and no one believed me!"

"O...kay…" Pyrrha gasped. "Nora… I can't… breathe… Crush...ing….me…"

Nora blinked and stopped swinging her like a ragdoll, "Oh, right," and loosened her grip, though she did not let her go. Pyrrha took in a lungful of sweet oxygen, and returned Nora's hug.

"It's good to see you again, Nora…"

That set her trembling again, and Nora might have started babbling too if Ren didn't interrupt with, "Nora, we don't know who that is. Step back."

A few hours ago, his words would have stung Pyrrha, but now she just closed her eyes and let out a sigh. Nora, on the other hand, released Pyrrha and glared at Ren with her hands on her hips. "Oh don't you start, Mister Wannabe-Ninja!"

"Nora, he has a point," Ruby said. She never took her tear-filled eyes off Pyrrha, even as she spoke, "I know what I saw, Pyrrha-"

"Ep!" Nora snapped her fingers. "None of that!"

"But-"

"Nope! Everything is fine! Pyrrha is fine! Nothing bad. Ever. Happened." she glared at them both. "Ever."

Pyrrha put a hand on Nora's shoulder. Her short friend looked up at Pyrrha. The tall red-head smiled and said, "I appreciate the gesture Nora. But after what happened, I can understand why you would be skeptical."

She took a deep breath and looked at her friends, "I wish I could tell you how I survived, and how I've come back. But I don't know how I survived my fight with Cinder. Up until recently, I couldn't even remember my own death. I don't have anyway to prove to you that I'm who I say I am. All I can say do is… Is say I'm sorry for what I did, and what I've put you all through."

The tears started flowing from Ruby's eyes, and she rushed to Pyrrha, hugging her tightly. This was more what Pyrrha had expected, tears, lots and lots of tears. She looked up to see Ren, who still looked skeptical.

That is, until Nora grabbed his wrist and said, "Oh quit being a party pooper and get in there!" Then she dragged him into a group hug with herself and Ruby.

Pyrrha smiled, "Sorry Ren."

He let out a sigh, and remained silent, but his face conveyed all the relief he felt. After a solid straight minute of being hugged, Pyrrha was finally able to disentangle herself from the majority of team RNJR, leaving one more member left.

"Jaune…"

The blonde haired youth scratched at his head awkwardly, "Pyrrha, I… um, I had a dream with you in it."

Nora smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand.

Pyrrha smiled, "I know, I was there."

"You… you said you couldn't remember what happened, and that you were… in another world?" Saying it aloud reminded Jaune why the others hadn't believed him at first. It sounded like something straight out of a terrible fantasy novel.

"All true," she confirmed. "That's actually one of the reasons I'm here at all. I don't know how to say this, but I don't have a lot of time, twenty minutes at most."

"What?! Why?!" Everyone yelled.

She sighed, "It's complicated, and I don't have time to explain it. I just… after the past few days, I needed to see you all."

Jaune's face went somber, "Just the past few days?"

"Not like that," Pyrrha quickly assured him, "I literally just woke up three days ago. Whoever or whatever rescued me couldn't release me or had to wait. I didn't think I'd ever find a way back, but this world I've landed on, its…"

She took a deep breath and explained what had happened. Her arrival on Earth, her work with Harry and Murphy, the battle at UC, her solo-mission that brought her against Mercury and Emerald (Omitting the part where she was arrested) and the battle with the Nevermore that destroyed Harry's apartment. Like she expected, it sounded completely off the wall crazy, no matter how true it was.

When she finished, everyone looked stunned. Justified, she thought, since the idea of another world was the stuff of fiction. And the idea of a world without Grimm was just plain crazy.

"Wizards and vampires and monsters… but no Grimm?" Ruby asked.

Pyrrha nodded, "This world, Earth is… incredibly different from Remnant. There are literal gods who live there, so much more powerful than any of us; that's how I got here. It's not a perfect world, but it's been its own world with its own problems… And now the Grimm are coming to it."

"It'll be a slaughter." Jaune said. It was no sudden realization, they all knew it. No one had wanted to say it though.

"That's what Harry and I are trying to stop. We know how Cinder is sending them through, we just need to close the portals and then I can focus on a way to come home permanently."

"Well, bring us with you!" Nora said.

"Yeah, five huntsmen would be more useful than just one." Jaune agreed, and quickly added, "No offense."

Pyrrha smiled sadly, "I wish I could, but we'd have to find a way to bind you to Earth, otherwise the result would be the same. You'd all be dragged back to Remnant in a few minutes. This is something I have to handle alone, for now."

Jaune scowled, "That's not fair! You went through enough at Beacon, you shouldn't have to do this alone!"

"Jaune," Pyrrha said, her tone firm.

He grimaced and clenched his hands. Pyrrha took his hands in hers and felt them slowly unclench. She smiled sweetly at him, "I'm not alone. Here or on Earth, I have friends like you to help me. And when Earth is safe, I'll come home as fast as I can. I promise."

Jaune let out a pent up breath and met Pyrrha's eyes. They stood like that for a moment, hands intertwined, when Nora spoke up, "Oh, hey! I just realized, we forgot to do that thing!"

Everyone looked at her confused, "That...thing?"

"Yeah, you know, the thing!" She said, smiling. "Don't worry, I can handle it. Just to be sure though…"

She grabbed Ruby's hood and Ren's collar and started dragging them off, "I'll be taking these two to help me out! Be back in who knows when! Bye!"

Ruby looked perplexed, while Ren was resigned to his fate as Nora pulled them down the path and around a bend in the road… leaving Pyrrha and Jaune by themselves. Alone. With no one else around.

Pyrrha suddenly found the ground to be extraordinarily fascinating, while Jaune kept coughing awkwardly. While studying the ground though, Pyrrha noted the new gauntlets that he was wearing.

"I… like your new armor. It looks nice…"

"Oh, that?" Jaune looked at himself, "It's pretty nice I guess, I mean, if you think it is, I...um…"

Pyrrha let out a long sigh, "Right… Jaune, I… I'm sorry. About what I did at Beacon, what I did to you. Putting you through that, it… it wasn't fair."

Jaune looked off to the side and didn't say anything. That was alright, Pyrrha had plenty to say, things she had been wanting to say for a long time.

"After… well after everything that happened that day, I didn't know what to do. I fell back onto the only thing I did know how to do."

Jaune closed his eyes and nodded with understanding. "Fighting, I get it."

"But it cost me my life, and it hurt everyone." Pyrrha wasn't going to cry, not this time. She'd gotten all her tears out, but that didn't make the truth of what she did hurt any less. What she was going to say next, though, would hurt more.

"So, I'd… I'd understand if you didn't want anything to do with me after that. I just hope we can still be friends if that's true."

Pyrrha might as well have been pulling teeth, the words hurt so much to say. But they needed to be said, because her actions had been selfish and immature and had caused everyone far too much pain. Ruby alone had proven that.

Jaune took a deep breath and looked at Pyrrha. He didn't say anything for a moment, just looked at her, completely inscrutable to her.

"Pyrrha, when this craziness is all over, I know this great arcade back home if you… I dunno, want to hang out there or something?"

She stared at him for a long moment, understanding slowly forming in her eyes. "Are… are you asking me on a date?"

He shrugged, "Well… it's a year late, I admit, but better late than never, right?"

"Yes!" Pyrrha gleefully yelled. "Of course, I'd love to!"

Admittedly it wasn't the most romantic idea of a first date, but it was a start. Besides, something about it was just so… Jaune. Of course he would suggest something like an arcade, video games were the only thing he could consistently beat her at.

Jaune smiled, "Great, then I guess we've got double motivation, right?"

Pyrrha opened her mouth to respond, and felt a wave of nausea roll over her. Her body went numb and her eyes started to roll into the back of her skull.

"Pyrrha?"

She took a step back and fell to one knee, and saw the cobbled pathway beneath her start to blur into an indistinct blob of grey. A cold sweat broke out along her brow; no way, it couldn't have been twenty minutes yet, could it?

Jaune knelt next to her, and steadied her with one hand. "Pyrrha, what's wrong, what's happening?" he asked.

She scrabbled for one of his hand and grabbed it tight, only to feel it slip from her grasp like sand. One look at her hand and horror overtook her. Pyrrha was slowly fading out of existence, her body being dragged back to Earth bit by bit. She looked down and could see through her legs and abdomen.

"Jaune…" the effort of speaking was greater than it should've been, but Pyrrha forced herself to speak.

"I'm here," he assured her. "What is it?"

"I'm… being pulled back… but I'll… I'll see you again soon… Tell the others I'm… sorry I didn't get to say goodbye."

Jaune brushed his hand against her cheek, reassuring her without the words. Pyrrha leaned into his touch, savoring it for what may be the last time in a long time…

Then she was gone.

And Jaune was alone.

* * *

Pyrrha rematerialized in the Carpenter household and bounced off the hallway wall flat onto her back. She stared up at the ceiling for a long moment, savoring the lingering silence. It didn't last.

A shadow fell over Pyrrha and clamped a hand over her mouth, muffling her scream of surprise. Her eyes went wide and she punched at the shadowed figure, only for them to duck out of the blow.

Murphy caught Pyrrha's arm before she pulled it back for a second go, and held it there. Pyrrha stared at Murphy in surprise, mostly for the sudden attack. What was going on? Where were Harry and the others?

Slowly, Murphy released Pyrrha's arm and mouth, and raised a finger to her lips in a 'quiet' gesture. Pyrrha nodded and sat up, quickly looking around. They were upstairs, right outside the guest room she'd been staying in. She gave Murphy a questioning look.

The short woman pointed down the hall, and whispered, "Molly had to leave for a minute… And Torchwick's invaded the house. He has Maggie."

 **A/N: Surprise!**

 **I'll admit, I didn't expect to update this fast, but I'd been waiting to write this scene for sooo long I just jumped right in. I've been writing since this morning and never really stopped. It might be like this for the rest of the story, as it was the beginning and end that I _really_ wanted to write. **

**Now, how the hell did this happen? Torchwicks escaped to cause havoc again? Haha! Not for long, he's about to learn exactly how bad he screwed up.**

 **And it will be glorious.**

 **Anyway, lemme know what you guys thought in the reviews, don't forget to leave your thoughts and critiques and I'll see you guys next time!**


	34. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

"What!?" Pyrrha gasped, " How? I thought Marcone had him locked away!"

As far as she could remember, Marcone's people had wheeled that dirtbag into the Chicago Alliance Headquarters on a steel dolly. For Pyrrha, that would've been laughable security, but Torchwick didn't have her abilities, and certainly didn't have her skills. It confused her to imagine how the criminal scumbag had managed to escape, but that confusion was quickly overrun by anger. Pyrrha had made her stance clear, towards Torchwick, and not only had he come back, but he'd gone after _Maggie_ too. Scraping his face off the floor sounded _very_ appealing to her at the moment.

Murphy shook her head, "I don't know how he got out. A few minutes after we sent you to Remnant, Charity decided to go and buy you some clothes of your own. She thought it would be a good way of making you a little more comfortable since we don't know how to permanently send you home. Molly refused to let her go alone. Torchwick came bursting in with a squad of goons a few minutes after they left.."

It was beginning to seem that gestures of kindness were only ever going to be met with random acts of violence at this rate. Pyrrha let out an annoyed sigh. "Okay, but what does he want? And where were you during all this?"

"He wants you," Murphy said, as if it was obvious. "I think your little threat pissed him off. It's the only reason I can think of that's kept him from killing anyone yet. As for me… I was using the ladies room."

It always came down to bad timing.

Always.

Pyrrha took a deep breath and sat on the bed so she could think this over, while Murphy slunk over to the door and peered out into the hall. Torchwick was back, presumably had armed men with him, and had taken the Carpenters and Harry hostage. However, Molly and Charity were gone and could be back at any time.

"Murphy, how powerful is Molly as this… Winter Lady?"

The blonde woman shrugged from her position by the door. "Harry's never gone into specifics, but I think she's about Lea's level of power. She's practically immortal too, and the only thing that would really hurt her is iron."

"Iron?"

"It's like their kryptonite. Cuts through their magic and burns them bad. I've never seen a Fae get even close to Iron if they could help it."

"Kryp-to-nite?" Pyrrha asked.

"Oh, right, non-Earthling doesn't know the reference - it's not important. Iron is their greatest weakness. It can cripple or kill them even with seemingly minor injuries" Pyrrha nodded her understanding.

That would explain why Molly hadn't moved to help the others when they cleared the living room of metal objects earlier. It also illustrated just how powerful Molly was. Lea had made Harry fall into a miniature panic-attack when they had landed in her domain, and if Molly approached that level of power… Okay, they could definitely do this.

Pyrrha reached out with her Semblance briefly, trying to get a cursory feel of the house, and more importantly, get a bead on their intruders. She felt the familiar shape of half a dozen rifles, one exceptionally oversized pistol, and a long cane being tapped on the floor in an anxious tempo. Torchwick was in the living room, as was Harry. Two of his goons were at the stairway, guns pointed up, another two were with Torchwick, and the last of the six were sweeping through the lower levels of the house.

With this in mind, a plan slowly formed in Pyrrha's mind. Ordinarily, she'd try the more direct approach, but with Maggie at risk, a more circumspect strategy was required. Pyrrha glanced at Murphy again; her scars were barely showing now, and she was bouncing on the balls of her feet with pent-up energy. She didn't look a day over twenty - her Aura was working _fast_.

"Murphy, how's your arm?" Pyrrha asked.

Murphy looked at her with a raised brow, then let a malicious grin spread over her face.

* * *

It wasn't every day that Harry swore the slow and painful demise of a man he barely knew so quickly. Torchwick ought to be proud of himself for absolutely shattering that record. The spiteful man was seated on the couch with one leg folded over the other and his cane casually resting on his lap. One hand rested lightly on the grip, while the other firmly grasped the edge of Maggie's shirt.

To her credit, Maggie had kept a remarkably brave face during the entire attack. She was still red eyed and on the verge of tears, but she hadn't done anything reckless or broken down. If she had, Harry would have torn the entire house apart in an effort to get at Torchwick. He was able to keep his festering, seething, rage under control for now. The moment he had an opening, he'd rip Torchwick's head off.

That was why Torchwick hadn't moved since taking Maggie, and why he had two armed men in black suits with red ties positioned behind him and the Carpenters. Michael had a dozen fresh bruises on his face and a swollen eye. Little Harry did well to emulate his father, and had nearly broken an arm in the process. Alicia and Amanda tended to him while Amanda sat with her father, drilling holes into Torchwick's stupid face.

Mouse, Harry's friend and colossal guard dog, had been caught off guard by Torchwicks initial attack. Flashbangs had caught everyone by surprise, and Torchwick had incorporated some sort of vicious pepper spray with at least one of them. Mouse had taken the worst of it, and Roman had delivered several meaty smacks to Mouse's flanks and head to make sure he stayed down. The Foo Dog had survived far, far worse, but the blows had stunned him long enough for Torchwick to get hostages. So for now, Mouse lay on his side in the main hall, playing dead until he saw his moment. At least, that's what Harry _hoped_ he was doing. Tears streamed down everyone's faces, and some of them were wheezing, and Mouse lay motionless but for the slow expansion and contraction of his ribcage.

Their captor let out an irritated sigh and glanced at the watch on his free hand. "Still no Pyrrha. Tsk, tsk. If you just tell me where she is, Dresden, I'll happily let the rest of you go."

"I doubt that." Harry growled through clenched teeth. There was no way in Hell that Torchwick would let them go if he got what he wanted. This was pure revenge, against Harry and Pyrrha, and everyone knew it.

But what Torchwick didn't know was that Pyrrha wasn't even on the same plane of existence. When she _did_ come back, she'd pop in next to Murphy. Torchwick wouldn't stand a chance against both of them together.

As if on cue, there was shouting from the top of the stairs. Harry fought, and failed, to keep the giant grin from spreading over his face at the sound. It was music to his ears, and a warning to Torchwick that an imminent ass-kicking was about to descend on him.

"Okay, I surrender." Pyrrha said from the stairs.

Wait, what!?

Torchwick smirked triumphantly at those words. A minute later, the other four men filtered in with guns focused on Pyrrha. The girl had her hands behind her head and slowly marched into the living room.

"Well well well." Torchwick laughed, "Long time no see Red. Glad you saw reason and came quietly. We wouldn't want things to get messy, now would we?"

He gave Maggie a friendly pat on the head. She whimpered and shrank into herself. Harry's face twisted into a sneer and he glared at Pyrrha. What the in the hell was she thinking!?

The red head remained standing, her face a mask as she spoke. "You have me now, Roman. Let the others go."

"That's not how this works, Ponytail." Roman replied, "You are a hostage, and hostages don't make demands."

Pyrrha frowned, and slowly lowered her arms. "Roman, why are you doing this?"

He raised a brow, "Doing what? Trying to kill you? It's just business, honey; you and Dresden have completely _ruined_ any chance of that "

"No, not that." Pyrrha said. "Why are you working with Cinder Fall? Why work with the Grimm at all? You can't possibly have anything to gain from that."

Roman set his jaw and tightened his grip on Maggie's collar again., "I told you before, Pyrrha Nikos, I'm done with that game. This is a new life, a new start. I don't want any nosy wizards or self-righteous Huntresses getting in my way. I dealt with plenty of that back home."

"Roman, we didn't ever want a conflict with you. You were the one who ran from us when we just wanted to ask questions, and you attacked us. You were the one with an interdimensional portal between worlds, _and_ you were the one who came back after us when we had all but forgotten you. And now here you are, making the same foolish mistake. Again"

Roman was silent, and his men looked confused. Obviously they weren't his best or brightest. If they had been, someone might have told Pyrrha to stop talking at this point, or at least done something besides point their guns menacingly at them. The five men slowly spread out into a half circle around Pyrrha and the others, occasionally glancing at Roman for confirmation on their actions.

He paid them no mind when he spoke, "You honestly expect me to believe that you weren't hunting me down after I made my escape?"

Pyrrha glanced down at Harry. He shrugged, and she looked back at Roman. "We didn't even know you were free. You didn't know what was going on, so we focused on the bigger problem. The Grimm are coming Roman. Surely you must have heard about the attacks at the UC or at Harry's apartment. You can't possibly be so self-absorbed as to believe we were still coming after you, can you? Walk away while you still can."

Torchwick seemed to consider it for a moment, then laughed, "Sweetheart, I _will_ walk away. It's seven armed men versus two possibly trained fighters, several children, _and_ a cripple. Something tells me that you can't take all of us." He looked her up and down as if trying to gauge her reaction. "I also don't think that-"

"Hey, I don't mean to interrupt," Harry said.

Torchwick glared at him with dagger eyes, "Be. Quiet. You _insufferable_ smartass."

"Okay, but… didn't you used to have six men? I'm only counting four."

Still glaring, Torchwick glanced at his men, and the color visibly drained from his face. His goons looked amongst themselves, confused about the whereabouts of their now vanished comrades.

"You two," Torchwick pointed his cane at the closest men. "Keep your eyes on the prisoners. The rest, watch the hallway, and turn anything that walks through into swiss cheese."

"What about you, boss?" one asked.

He grinned and hefted Maggie by her collar like she was weightless, and walked in front of the television on the far side of the room. "I'm going to keep our insurance over by the wall, as far away from our captives as possible."

His men, though obviously concerned, did as they were told

With a flick of his wrist, the tip of his cane popped open and he pressed it against Maggie's head. "I don't like firing at this close of range, but I'd survive it. The rest of you, not so much, save for Ponytail."

Harry ground his teeth together and seethed with barely contained rage. Torchwick was getting desperate, and Harry was about one wrong word away from unleashing magical hell on the man. Until, that is, he felt something familiar. A faint magical energy in the air, not fae magic, but mortal magic. It was a complex weaving, that suggested whoever created it wouldn't make it detectable unless they were sending a message.

In this case, the message was clear: _Help is coming._

His rage slowly cooled to a dull ember, waiting for the right sparks to light it once again. It was after Harry took one slow, deep breath, that the air behind Torchwick shimmered and the sound of a shotgun cocking filled the room. Torchwick went still as stone, his eyes wide and his arm trembling.

"Let the girl go." a man's voice ordered, deep and tinged with a British accent.

The invisibility veil faded away, revealing a tall handsome man with dark golden hair and sharp gray-blue eyes that were filled with a predator's intellect. He had a swimmer's build, and wore a heavy, wet, raincoat over an obvious kevlar vest. Also, he held a small shotgun in his hands, with the barrel pressed against the back of Roman's skull.

Jared Kincaid, the Hellhound.

Harry was baffled, what was he doing here!? Kincaid was a well known mercenary in the supernatural world, thorough, pragmatic, and incredibly expensive. He was the bodyguard to the most powerful mortal on the planet and Harry had personally seen the man destroy half a dozen Denarians in less than a handful of minutes. Kincaid had also killed Harry, once upon a time, but that was okay; Harry had asked him to do it.

His presence here though, unannounced, meant one thing to Harry. It was at that point, he stopped fighting the grin on his face and said, "Oh Torchwick, you are so _fucked_!"

Roman's mouth twisted into a sneer, "One shotgun pointed at my head, is that really the best you can do?"

There was a sound of yelling, and a quick burst of rifle fire that quickly went dead. Everyone looked at the threshold to see Murphy standing over two unconscious guards, casually pointing one of their rifles at the last of Roman's mooks.

"Boys, take a hike." she ordered. "The adults are going to have a nice long chat."

They didn't even pause. The last of Roman's men dropped their weapons and ran for the hills, leaving him alone. Harry and Pyrrha slowly rose from the floor, never taking their eyes off of the man, who was as pale as the white coat he wore.

"Alicia, take your family into the kitchen," Harry said, without looking. "We're going to take out the trash."

She didn't argue with him, and the Carpenter kids helped their father to his feet and into the next room. As they left, Mouse stumbled into the room, huffing and snuffing before running face first into the nearest wall. He… was still under the effects of the mace. Didn't matter, they could handle Torchwick fine, now.

"Let the girl go," Kincaid ordered again. "I've seen Dresden let loose, you don't want to be on the receiving end of it. Truth be told, that could go for Murphy too."

After a moment of weighing his… limited options, Roman came to the conclusion that, yes, this was not a situation he could win. Slowly, he dropped his cane by his feet and released Maggie's collar, then raised both hands above his head. Maggie took off like a rocket for Harry, who caught her in his arms and held her close.

"It's okay sweetheart, I've got you." he cooed, brushing a hand through her hair. Maggie started crying into his shoulder and the fire came back.

"Now, on your knees." Kincaid ordered.

Roman sighed, "Sir, at the very least, you need to buy me _dinner_!"

His foot blurred, kicking his cane into the air for Roman to grab. He whirled, aiming to bring the cane down on Kincaid's skull. The shotgun roared fire, sending a solid slug into Roman's chest. His aura flared, and he was pushed back by the force of the impact, but the cane continued its descent.

After sitting on the sidelines, Pyrrha finally sprang into action. With but a thought, her Semblance wrapped tight around his cane and she pulled, hard. The cane would've flown right into her hand, but there was a six foot man in its way. As a result, Torchwick went careening across the living room like a cannon, toward Murphy. She dove to the side right as Torchwick hit the side of the doorway.

Wood splintered and cracked, and his Aura flared brighter, crackling under the strain. He tumbled into the hall, and his cane rolled out of his hand toward the door. Pyrrha rushed out with the others to lay down the law on Torchwick, but stopped when she saw who else was in the hallway.

A young woman, perhaps a year younger than Pyrrha, had stopped Roman's cane with her foot. She was about the average height for a teenager, with short blonde hair that framed her soft features nicely. Her grey eyes were focused on Roman intently, but her face was a mask otherwise.

"Ivy?" Harry emerged behind them all, still holding Maggie. Obviously, he knew this 'Ivy'.

She smiled fondly at him in turn, and said, "Hello, Harry. Sorry to drop by unannounced, though it seems to have worked in your favor this time, I believe."

"You could say that." he agreed.

Pyrrha looked between them then back at Roman, laying motionless on the ground. "I don't mean to interrupt, but we can't just leave him unattended." she said.

"On it," Murphy walked over to Roman…

The man's eyes flew open and he shot to his feet, charging full speed at Ivy. Pyrrha started after him, reaching out with her Semblance for her weapons. The effort was not necessary in the slightest.

Ivy seemed to have anticipated Roman's tactic, and almost casually sidestepped his tackle. Roman scooped his cane off the floor as he ran, and twisted on his heel, skidding across the carpet. He brought his cane level with the others, aimed down the sights, and never had a chance to fire.

Ivy grabbed Roman's arm with one hand and delivered three quick strikes along his wrist, elbow, and shoulder with her index and middle finger. The limb went numb and he lost his grip on his cane, and it clattered to the floor. Ivy released his arm and Roman stumbled back, looking at the useless limb in shock. Pyrrha found herself glued to the floor, dumbstruck by what she saw.

"Why you little!" Roman grabbed at Ivy with his good arm, only to be met with the same results, leaving him with two useless limbs. She skirted around behind him, and fired a strike at the inside of his knee. Roman yelled in pain and almost fell face first on the floor.

"Mr. Torchwick," Ivy said, striding back in front of him. "A word of advice. Don't attack my friend or his family. Ever."

The air shimmered around Ivy for a moment, magical energy pouring into her. She pressed her hands together and took a deep breath, and then struck Torchwick along the sternum with her open palm. There was a hollow ' _whoosh!'_ followed by an explosion of hot air. Roman was launched out the open door of the Carpenter household and into the van parked in front of the house.

The vehicle tipped back on two wheels, and slowly came crashing back down onto all four. Roman's head rolled forward limply. His Aura sparked and crackled, shattered either from the impact or Ivy's blow, it was hard to tell. His eyes flickered open and he saw Pyrrha and Murphy come sprinting towards him.

He kicked his good leg against the vans panel and shouted, "Drive you idiot, drive!"

The van roared to life and its tires squealed against the asphalt. Pyrrha cursed and sprinted out into the street as the vehicle took off. She flung her Semblance forward and grabbed hold of the car, but only managed to tear the rear doors off and sent them careening down the street. Roman vanished from view a moment later, and the neighborhood was quiet once more.

"Damn it," Murphy cursed, running up next to Pyrrha, "He got away. _Again!_ "

Pyrrha tore her eyes from the street and sighed, "I doubt he'll be back after that."

"If he is, I'm killing him." her short friend growled. "Threaten us all you want, but go after the kids? He's a dead man if I ever see him again."

"Wait in line." Pyrrha replied.

They returned inside to find Harry kneeling next to Maggie resting a hand on her back, while she had her arms wrapped around Mouse's neck. The giant dog was licking her cheek and making little whimpering noises, as if he were ashamed of how he'd been so easily disposed of. His nose was crusted over with mace and snot and his eyes struggled to stay open, but his tail was wagging and he seemed relatively unfazed by Torchwicks beating.

Ivy and Kincaid waited off to the side, the latter looking more interested in his gun than the tender family moment before them. After a minute with Maggie, Harry looked up at Ivy and said, "Why are you here Ivy? I haven't heard from you in three years, at least."

The blonde girl took a deep breath, and pointed at Pyrrha, "Her. I'm here because of her."

* * *

 **A/N: I bet none of you saw that coming eh? Admittedly, this was a chapter that went through five different iterations before I settled on this. Ivy and Kincaid were always going to show up, but I debated on how Pyrrha was going to handle the situation. The original plan was much worse. Long story short, Pyrrha was going to be caught after a shower and beat Torchwick to a pulp in nothing but a towel. I realized how ridiculous that was and decided that having her try something a bit more diplomatic would work better. Then have Ivy make him her bitch.**

 **Anyway, I'll probably do a little rewriting in the future, otherwise, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Let me know what you thought in the reviews and make sure to leave critique. Ciao!**


	35. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

"Okay, what do you mean you're here because of her?" I asked Ivy, once everything had settled down. After she chased Torchwick off, we took a few minutes to fix the door and tend to the wounded. The son of a bitch was lucky that no one was seriously injured, but the next time I saw Torchwick, the kid gloves were coming off.

I wish I had dropped them sooner though. Karrin and I briefly investigated the guardhouse Molly had setup across the street. We found half a dozen dead fae, their bodies a barely recognized mess of burnt flesh and shattered bones. Torchwick had to have broken in and beaten them to death with his iron cane. If he'd been a normal mortal, he wouldn't have lasted five seconds. But, as I was being reminded constantly, Remnanites were far from 'normal'. The Fae never knew what hit them. Molly was going to be pissed when she got home.

Until she did though, there was the issue of Ivy and Kincaid, though technically I should say The Archive and Kincaid. Ivy is a nickname I gave her years ago, back when she was a small seven year old girl, and it had created a... I want to say, separate personality, but that's not quite right. The Archive is more a state of being and a possession of knowledge. Whoever made the Archive was very paranoid (Correctly) about a cataclysm wiping out human knowledge. The Archive was a living repository of all knowledge written in human history since its inception, passed down a long line of women who had bared the curse, until poor Ivy was saddled with it as an infant. Until she met me, the only name and purpose she had, was as the Archive. Now she was Ivy the Archive, and when she switched from one to the other, it could be… disturbing.

Right now, she was in Archive mode.

We sat around the Carpenter dining room table, Ivy and Kincaid on one end, Karrin, Pyrrha and I on the other. Michael was in the kitchen with his kids, including Maggie. She hadn't said a word since we chased off Torchwick, and I was finding it hard to concentrate without glancing back at her constantly.

Ivy folded her hands together on the table and took a deep breath. It was odd, seeing the little girl I'd met all grown up. Ivy wasn't just taller than Karrin now, she had noticeable… assets. Curves where there had been none before, and a mature face that met the aged look of her eyes. She had worn a heavy raincoat when she first arrived, but had hung it on a coat hook it after we'd cleaned up, revealing a white blouse and deep blue vest and a pair of slacks. In another year or two, she would be an adult woman.

That thought made me realize something truly terrifying: I was getting old - well, older anyway.

"I may have been… indulging in theatrics." Ivy admitted. "I am not here specifically for… for…"

Ivy looked at Pyrrha like she just saw her for the first time, a faint look of shock on her face, "I'm… sorry, I don't believe I know you…"

"Pyrrha Nikos," the redhead replied, jovially. "And we haven't met before, Ivy."

Kincaid looked down at Ivy with a raised brow. He might as well have let his jaw hit the floor for how expressive it was on his face. "That's… what has surprised me."

Ivy looked at me and asked, "Where did you find this woman Harry? As far as humanity knows, she doesn't _exist_."

I couldn't resist. I grinned like an idiot and leaned back in my seat, "Why, Ivy, do I know something you don't?"

"I presume you know a lot of things I don't," she replied. "I possess Intellectus, not omniscience, Harry."

Despite herself, she smiled faintly as she spoke. I returned it and said, "You won't find any records of Pyrrha, human or not, on Earth. Because she's not from our universe." Then a thought occurred to me. "Unless Rawlins actually filed a report - which I'm guessing he didn't, since you didn't even know her name." I looked over at Karrin. "What do you think, will he put it down on paper?"

Karrin looked at me like my brains had started to dribble out of my ears. "You're kidding me, right? What would he say that wouldn't catch Hell?"

"I'll take that as a probably not, then." It would have been interesting if he had. I briefly toyed with the idea of testing it and decided there were more important things to worry about.

Ivy stared at Pyrrha for a long moment without saying anything. Kincaid went back to looking at his gun, but something pulled at the corner of his lip. If he were anyone else, I'd say he was smirking triumphantly. Finally, Ivy slumped back in her chair and crossed her arms.

"Called it," Kincaid said, matter-of-factly.

"You said Inter-dimensional. Technically, this would count as extra-dimensional." Ivy replied, with a tone of voice only a teenager could muster.

I coughed into my hand, and they both looked at me. "I answered your question Ivy. Now you answer mine. Why are you here?"

Ivy sighed and sat-up in her seat, "Of course. Miss Nikos is not the primary reason I am here, however, her presence is similar to the actual reason, th-"

"The Grimm. You saw the news, didn't you?"

"The world thinks Chicago is being assaulted by terrorists," Ivy explained, "Politicians and local authorities are baffled and waiting for others to step forward. But this is recent for them, _I_ have been aware of these attacks since they started. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of assuming it was another turf war between Marcone's forces and the Fomor. Once I saw the news though, I came as fast as I could."

I frowned at that, "I appreciate the gesture Ivy, but… isn't the Archive a neutral force? No actual involvement?"

The biggest grin broke out on her face, and Ivy giggled, _giggled_ at me. "These are extra-dimensional forces, Harry. The Archive is only meant to act as a neutral figure for parties on _Earth_."

Realization dawned on me and Karrin. Her arms dropped to her side and she muttered, "Mother of god…" under her breath. I silently agreed. There's an old saying that knowledge is power, and when it comes to matters of the Arcane sort, this adage rings true. Ivy possessed enough info that she could go toe to toe with one of the Fae Court Ladies and win. Molly might disagree, but I'd seen Ivy manhandle forces on her own that were so dangerous it would take the entire Senior Council to match it; and according to her, the Grimm were not covered by her neutrality clause.

Our entire situation flipped from 'Near Hopeless' to 'Pretty Damn Good' over the course of a single conversation.

Pyrrha frowned, confused, "I don't understand. Another person is always welcome help, but what makes Ivy any different from any of us?"

I took a moment to find my voice, and it came out in a hushed tone, "Pyrrha, Ivy is more than just a powerful teenage girl. She is the _Archive_. Everything written and recorded in human history, she knows. Everything, big, small, and in between."

The implications were not lost on the red-head. Her brilliant green eye's widened into dinner plates and she openly gawked at Ivy in awe, tinged with sympathy.

"That is… incredible. I can't imagine how difficult that is to manage."

Ivy's grin faded a little, "You learn to manage. But that is beside the point. I have come to do more than simply assist you in combat. I know where the next assaults will take place."

Pyrrha's mouth fell open in shock. I almost joined her too, but kept my mouth closed for the sake of appearances. It didn't surprise me that Ivy might know what Cinder's plan was, but it wasn't something I had been holding my breath for. But now…

"Okay, where? And how do you know in the first place?"

Ivy sighed, "The enemy must be unaware of who I am or what I can do. One of them was foolish enough to write the location down as a reminder."

We all stared at her. Even the Carpenters in the kitchen paused what they were doing to stare at Ivy. Karrin pinched the bridge of her nose, "Ivy, did you consider that they might be using your abilities to lay a trap?"

Cinder had known who I was, and about Mac's. It made sense she might know about Ivy and use her to lure us into a trap. Though trying to get the Archive to attack you was as dumb as it got, when it came to bad guys. The last time that happened, no one had come out of that event unscathed, and Cinder had looked like she had one foot in the grave last time I saw her.

But still, if we knew where the next Grimm attack would take place, we could stop it before it got out of hand. Plus, Ivy wasn't dumb, of course she would consider that.

"Miss Murphy, of course I considered that. But if what I know _is_ true, then Chicago may not survive the night. I couldn't take the chance."

I looked at Karrin, and she looked at me. She looked conflicted, her brow pulled into a knot on her forehead. She wasn't sure what to make of this, and was leaving it up to me to decide. This was my area of expertise, as a wizard I was supposed to be the super-wise bender of reality who knew the right choices to make. Karrin knew me well enough to know that wasn't entirely true, but it didn't stop her or the others from deferring to me for god only knew what reason.

I weighed my options. In any other situation, from any other source, I'd consider this to be an obvious trap. But Ivy was more than just a girl with a lot of knowledge in her noggin, she was _smart_. There's a distinct difference between the two, and Ivy had a perfect balance between the two. I thought about that for a moment and remembered something very important. Ivy existed as more than just the Archive because of me. Because she had a friend, someone who treated her as more than just a powerhouse on legs, but as an actual girl. There was no way that she would have told me this information if she had even the faintest shadow of a doubt that it would put me and my friends in more danger than if she kept it to herself.

I sighed, "Alright Ivy, where is the next attack taking place?"

"Attacks, plural," Ivy corrected, and raised three fingers. "The Chicago Graveyard, Chicago International Airport, and the ruins of the Red Room."

I cringed at that last one. The Red Room had, at one point, been the home of a powerful Red Court vampire, Bianca. She was the one in charge of most of Chicago's prostitution racket, and after one encounter with me that _she_ instigated, decided to make me her mortal enemy. A lot of people died in that place and because of what went on there, and I lost the woman I loved. The Red Room would draw Grimm to it like moths to an open flame - any of the locations Ivy listed would.

"I understand the Graveyard, and I assume the Red Room has a history," Pyrrha said. "But why an airport?"

In hindsight, it did seem like a random location. "People from all over the world pass through Chicago," I explained. "It's a crossroads for world travel, and you'll get people with millions of different stories passing through every year. That alone would build up a lot of bad ju-ju, but… we lost a good man there a few years back."

Pyrrha looked at me with questioning sympathy, but I wasn't in the mood to tell the full story. I glanced away from her and added, "Plus, if Cinder wanted to be all stealthy-like, I bet she could sneak some of those Blackstones aboard the planes. Then you've got Grimm raining all over the world wreaking havoc, planes falling from the sky. It's a good place to attack if you think about it."

"How many people are usually at this airport?" Pyrrha asked.

"Too many," I sighed. "Even if we left now, it could take hours for us to find the exact location and stop the portal from being opened, and that's not even covering the other locations. This is going to require more than just the three of us to handle."

I saw the frown form on Pyrrha's face, "I don't think the Alphas would be of much help against Cinder. If she is coming, we need power, not just numbers."

She was right of course, and I had no intention of getting Billy and Georgia involved. They had helped me through some tight situations before, but Cinder was on another level. Dragging them into the fire would be worse than murder. We'd need an equalizer for Cinder before I even thought about dragging anyone else into this mess I'd found myself in. But that solution wasn't exactly going to just walk through the front door.

It was at that moment that the Carpenter's front door began opening, and promptly fell off its hinges onto the floor with a hollow ' _Boom!'_. We all turned to the door and saw Molly and Charity stood at the door with shopping bags in their arms and wide eyed expressions. They glanced around the wrecked house, their gazes stopping on Ivy and Kincaid.

Molly closed her eyes and dropped her bags on the floor. "Thirty minutes Harry, I was gone for _thirty_. _Minutes_."

I looked around at the house, then at Karrin and Pyrrha, and then back at Molly and said, "Really? Felt like longer."

"Harry, what happened?" Charity asked as she moved her and Molly's bags inside the house. She moved past us to the kitchen to help tend to her family's wounds, but never took her eyes completely off me.

I sighed and gave them the brief version, explaining Torchwick's attack and Ivy's sudden arrival and rescue. By the time I finished, Molly looked furious, her face twisted into a sneer and her hands clenched into fists. I could feel the temperature in the house drop like a rock. "When I find that tacky red-haired Clockwork Orange wannabe," she hissed through clenched teeth, "I'm going to drag him kicking and screaming back to the Nevernever."

"Molly, wait, there's more!" I said, hastily. It was important she knew, but I also wanted to keep her mind off Torchwick for now. Molly had a _lot_ of power, and when she had been human she'd had trouble controlling the magic she had. I had a hard time believing that her emotions and magic were completely separate now as the Winter Lady.

But as I told her about what we knew, that seemed to draw Molly back from the brink for the moment. She let out a frustrated breath of frost and folded her arms. "What's your plan then boss? We charging in guns blazing?"

I drummed my fingers on the table and thought. Trying to take things covert hadn't exactly worked the last two times I'd tried. There was a hole in The UC, what was left of Club Zero was a smoldering ruin, and my apartment was literally in pieces. Now that we knew where the enemy might strike next…

And we had at least four different groups that they'd managed to piss off.

A grin spread over my face and I clenched my hand into a fist, "I'm going to make a few calls. Your phone still working Michael?"

He had fresh gauze around his face and a few new bruises, but my old friend grunted and jerked his head down the hall. I nodded my thanks and got up, marching to the phone. We'd been on the defensive long enough; it was time to call in the cavalry…

I hung up the phone forty-five minutes later and rubbed at my temples. Managing political favors was never a favorite hobby of mine, and getting everyone to cooperate was going to be a difficult game. Yet, if I could get them to work together, then Cinder wouldn't know what hit her when she came walking through that gate. That was a pretty big if though.

Besides, before I could worry about any of that, I had to get the gang ready to move. I returned to the kitchen to find that the some of the tension had been let out. I saw that Pyrrha was playing a game of twenty questions with Ivy, who had to be starved for knowledge on any and everything in her universe, while Kincaid hadn't moved from his spot since I'd left. Karrin had taken a seat in my chair, silent but smiling faintly at Pyrrha's mood. The Carpenters had all gathered in the kitchen, talking idly amongst themselves.

Everyone fell silent though when they saw me return. I got several expectant looks, and let out a long sigh. "Right then. Karrin, Pyrrha, gear up, we're moving out. Molly, I need to talk to you in a minute, and Ivy?"

The girl sat up straighter, and a bit eager. She was not going to like what I said next. "We're going to need you to stay here."

"...What?"

Karrin looked at me like I was crazy. Molly too. I was pretty sure I _was_ crazy, for keeping Ivy on the sidelines, but I had good reason for it. "You're too valuable a source, Ivy. If something went wrong, a stray bullet, a lucky Grimm, or just falling debris, that's it, you and the Archive are done. This is going to be a nasty, nasty fight, and if things go sideways, I want someone I _know_ I can trust holding the line."

Her lips tightened, but Ivy accepted my logic and gave me a stern nod. "You… make a good point, Harry. I don't like it, but it makes sense."

"Please tell me you're not making me sit out too." Molly said, folding her arms defiantly.

I grinned at her, "Nah, you're immortal now, that makes you expendable, Padawan! Besides, what with you being the Winter Lady, I was wondering if you could… prepare a welcome wagon for our guests."

A mischievous grin spread over Molly's face, practically inhuman in its impishness. I had seen that grin before, on my godmothers face. I felt a chill run down my spine, even though it was plenty warm inside.

"Oh, I think I can throw something together boss. Where do you want to meet up?"

"We're heading to the Chicago Alliance HQ," I explained. "You can link up with us there." Molly snapped her fingers and gave me the thumbs up. Then she turned to her family to say her goodbyes.

I felt something big and shaggy brush against my leg, and I looked down to see Mouse sitting patiently at my feet, with a big doggy grin on his face. My little girl was still next to him, her arms wrapped tight around his neck, and her eyes vacant. I knelt down in front of the both of them, and cupped Maggie's chin with my finger.

"Hey, munchkin," I said, softly.

Her eyes flicked to me and she whispered, "Please come back."

Like a bullet to the chest, her words hit hard. I swallowed the pit at the back of my throat and smiled for her, "Margaret Angelica Dresden, I swear on my power that nothing on Earth will keep me from coming back."

It was a bold statement to make, but I meant every word of it. No two-bit power stealing _bitch_ was going to keep me from coming home to my little girl. Mouse made a whining noise and licked my hand. His eyes were still watery from the mace, and his snout runny, but he was looking much better than he had an hour ago. In a fight, Mouse could help make the difference, but…

"I need you to stay here boy." I ordered. "Keep doing what you were doing. Protect Maggie with your life, no matter what… and watch out for flashbangs."

Mouse huffed indignantly, puffing out his already oversized chest and shifting in place. Torchwick had caught him off guard once, but that trick wouldn't work on him again. If anyone tried getting near the Carpenter Household, Mouse would tear them to shreds. I smiled and scratched behind his ears.

Ah, screw it.

I pulled them both into a brief, but tight hug, making sure to memorize the feeling of holding my daughter in my arms one more time before I charged off into the wild blue yonder. Then, I let go and stood up, smiling at them both.

Karrin walked over to stand next to me, wrapping her fingers in mine. Her touch was still electric on my skin. It was like Pyrrha's, but far more intense, like I'd grabbed onto a live wire. I returned the gesture and smiled at Karrin. Maggie let go of Mouse and gave her a hug around the waist too.

"You come back too."

For a moment, Karrin hesitated. She and Maggie hadn't had a lot of time to interact as far as I knew, and neither had really acknowledged the possible relationship between them since Karrin and I had started dating. I knew she didn't feel completely ready to try and take up the mom role for Maggie, but she also really _wanted_ to fill that void too. Struggling to balance maternity and the kickassness that is Karrin Murphy had been a challenge for her. But for this one moment…

Karrin smiled and hugged Maggie in return. "I'll do my best. I'll keep an eye on your dad, too."

"We both will," Pyrrha agreed. At some point during my heart to heart with Maggie, the red-head had up and vanished along with Charity, and the reason why became clear when Pyrrha came back down the stairs.

Gone was the dog-hair covered shirt and jeans, and the ratty sneakers. Pyrrha had traded them for a set of Charity's patented anti-monster armor. Segmented titanium plating sandwiched between two layers of kevlar mesh, it protected against bullets and swords, and had served Michael well for years. This set lacked any of the flair and decoration of Michael's old templar armor and Pyrrha's own equipment, consisting mostly of black threads and black combat boots and black gloves. But I saw shiny new steel greaves and vambraces on her legs and forearms, as well as a skirt of chainmail. Her hair had been thoroughly brushed and pulled back into a tight ponytail, and she had replaced her tiara atop her head once more. The shapeshifting sword and shield she carried with her everywhere were secured tight to her back and were the only color on her armor, except for a bright red sash she had tied around her waist.

Pyrrha was armed and armored for war. She looked five years older, I barely recognized her.

"Wow…" one of the Carpenter kids murmured.

Maggie looked over and _smirked_ at them. "See? Told you so."

Pyrrha shifted under the sudden attention and cleared her throat, "Last time, Cinder caught everyone off guard. This time, I'm going to be ready for her."

Smart kid. I looked at myself, in my loose t-shirt, duster, and jeans, then looked at Karrin who was wearing a grey hoodie and slacks.

"I think we could all do with some extra armor. Got any extra, Charity?"

Michael's wife beamed proudly, "I think I have just the thing. One minute."

Pyrrha was right about Cinder and what she intended to do. I had thought the Grimm attacks were random coincidences at first, maybe the machinations of some warlock in Chicago that was sneaking under my nose. Instead what I'd found was a woman who had determined to drag Chicago into her personal war against humanity. Well, if it was a war she wanted, then by God, she was going to _get_ a war.

* * *

 **A/N: Exposition heavy chapters are hard.**

 **I probably would've gotten this chapter out a few days earlier, but... the For Honor beta started this week and I was invited to it, so... that has consumed my life. And now school is starting back up again, so a minor change to the schedule is in effect. I'll be updating every Saturday now (Or trying to). This will give me time to work on the chapter little by little while giving me more time to focus on school work and life in general. Hopefully, I'll adhere to this schedule better than the last one.**

 **One more chapter to go before I fall into the hiatus though. Remember that I intend on writing out the entire climax and conclusion before posting any of it. When we get to that point, I'll give you guys more info.**

 **Otherwise, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, make sure to review and let me know what you thought, or critique anything that looks funky. Until then, I'll see you guys Saturday!**


	36. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

When Charity decided to design and craft custom body armor for Karrin and I, it was a surprise I was more than happy to receive. Karrin looked like a teenager cosplaying as an action movie hero in the pitch black armor with her blonde hair tied back in a bun. The scars on her face were nearly gone, and she'd armed herself with her boxy submachine gun (a gift from Kincaid years ago) and a short-sword from Charity at Pyrrha's insistence.

I wore a vest under my duster and she had a fresh set of pants lined with more kevlar waiting for me. Add in the dozens of enchantments on my coat, and the comforting weight of my Smith & Wesson revolver, and I felt ready to take on the world. And, I don't mean to brag, but the three of us together in our fancy armor looked like a trio of badasses that would make any dimensional invader pause.

It's a shame the effect was ruined by the Carpenter's minivan. The Blue Beetle Mk. II, bless its soul, was in no shape to ferry us around the city anymore, the Nevermore had made sure of that. Michael promised to tow the poor girl to my old mechanic Mike, who I was convinced had a magical talent of his own when it came to machines. The original Blue Beetle had been brought back from the brink several times thanks to Mike. I'm sure he would be thrilled to see that times hadn't changed.

But, until my faithful steed could be returned, we were forced to borrow the Carpenters silver minivan instead. I've seen _many_ strange things in my life, but I've seen very few things as contradictory as a heavily armored near-seven-foot-tall wizard, a tiny spec-ops blonde, and a fiery red-haired amazon in battle armor hitching a ride in the soccer-mom-mobile. If ever there were a way to kill the mood, that was it.

It was one of those newer cars, the ones with the built in camera's to cover blind spots and a fancy GPS system and satellite radio. It lasted a mile before my wizardly talents caused the GPS to sputter and die in a shower of sparks. I awkwardly reached out and tapped the radio's power button, and the bowels of hell shrieked at me in impotent rage, before dying in an impressive display of smoke.

I tried to ignore the disapproving look Karrin was sending my way, and glanced in the rearview mirror at Pyrrha in the back seat. She had her weird, transforming gunblade in her hand, in gun form, with its clip out, and all eight rounds laying on her lap. The bullets and their casings were… equally weird. I could tell the bullets themselves were made of normal metal, but the casing almost seemed to radiate an energy of its own. It was probably more of that Dust that Pyrrha had mentioned.

She noticed me looking at her, and gathered the rounds in her hands. In several quick, fluid motions, she had reloaded the clip and locked it firmly into the rifle with a soft click. It shrank back into its sword form, that she gently set on her lap.

"I was counting how many rounds I have left," she explained. "Without Dust, I've been hampered in what I can do in combat."

I thought back to the insane blur of red and green I'd seen tearing through Grimm, and felt several day old bruises flare up in response to her explanation. "I have a hard time believing that."

Pyrrha smiled, "My range is greatly reduced without Dust, so I'll be limited to melee combat."

"Again, not seeing the problem here," I replied.

"Cinder's greatest strength is in ranged combat," Pyrrha's smile faded, and I saw her unconsciously scratch at the center of her chest..

The car grew silent as we rolled to a stop at a traffic light. I took the opportunity to turn around and face Pyrrha, "You sure you're up for this Pyrrha? After everything that happened, if you wanted to wait as backup, I'd understand."

It's one thing facing someone who's tried to kill you; it's another thing entirely to face the person who _actually_ managed to do it. If Molly was to be believed, Cinder had toyed with Pyrrha before she tired of the game and finished it.. I could understand if that was more than a little discouraging.

Pyrrha fixed me with those bright green eyes, and I saw that familiar fire flickering from within. "Do you remember, Harry, what you told me when we first met?"

"Put some pants on?"

"No, before that."

"You sound nuttier than a fruit bar?"

She sighed, "After _that._ "

I thought back to our conversation with a little more effort, and recalled what she might be referring to. "Something about Destiny, right?"

"Yes," she nodded. The light turned green and we started moving. Pyrrha leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees as she continued speaking, "You told me you believed that our Destiny isn't set in stone, that we carve our own path. Back at Beacon, I believed that it was my Destiny to stop Cinder and take up the Mantle of the Fall Maiden. But now I understand that no one can tell me what my Destiny is. This is my life to live and I know how I'm going to live it."

Karrin and I exchanged a concerned look. That was pretty definitive, world-view changing stuff she was talking about. While Karrin believed Pyrrha was back at one-hundred percent, I was a bit more cautious about letting her back into the field after everything she'd been through. So I kept my next question simple.

"And how are you going to live it?"

Pyrrha's smile returned, "I'm going to help my _friends_ protect their world."

We arrived at the Chicago Alliance Headquarters half-an-hour later. I recognized Will and Georgia's van immediately, and saw the Alphas and Butters seated on the front steps when I pulled up on the curb; they stood to meet us when we piled out of the minivan. Will and I shook hands, and I smiled.

"Glad to see you're all still in one piece, Will." I admitted.

"We got a good night's sleep." he replied, then added, "I heard your apartment blew up."

I forced a smile, "Technically, a really big bird just knocked the wall down."

"Of course it did," Georgia said after she and Karrin exchanged a hug. "You three don't seem any worse for wear though."

Karrin grinned, "Honestly, I feel better than I have in a _long_ time."

It was only a matter of time before people started questioning Karrin's little makeover, so I opened my mouth to catch everyone up on what happened, when two more cars pulled up on the curb. One was Thomas' big white Hummer, the other was a white Rolls Royce Silver Wraith, circa WWII. Both cars rumbled to a stop, and Thomas hopped out of his ego boosting male accessory.

My brother looked like he'd stepped out of a magazine - okay, he always looked like he'd stepped out of a magazine. But this time, instead of a modeling magazine, he'd stepped out of the latest edition of Guns and Ammo. I never saw anyone in the White Court wear actual body armor, but today Thomas was wearing a heavy white jacket that was clearly lined with some sort of padding, and a light kevlar vest underneath. His long black hair was tied back in a sort of warrior-style ponytail, and he wore a pair of heavy combat boots under white cargo pants. I didn't see any bulges of weaponry in his clothes like usual, which was likely because of the duffel bag he had swung under one arm. As usual, he managed to make the entire ensemble look glamorous. Georgia, Andi, and Karrin noticeably paused when he stepped out of the truck. Pyrrha glowered.

"Harry," Thomas greeted me with a nod. "I heard your apartment blew up."

I sighed, "Glad to see you too, Thomas. You sure you got enough firepower in there?"

He gave the duffel bag a shake, and grinned, "We run into a rogue gorilla again, I think I'm gonna go hunting, and I wanted to be prepared."

"As is often the case, you prefer to go loud and explosive, instead of subtle and controlled. Men certainly love their phallic symbolism." a sensual voice purred.

Now it was time for the males to stare. All eyes swiveled to the source of the voice. Lara Raith emerged from her Rolls Royce like Aphrodite had emerged from the ocean. Her full lips were quirked to one side and her large grey eyes sparkled with amusement. Unlike Thomas, she wore what could only be described as a catsuit straight out of James Bond. Shiny white leather, that hugged her hips and breasts just tight enough to leave very little to the imagination and covered every inch of her creamy skin. Her long black hair was hanging free, rolling in rivers down her back and shoulders. I'd say she belonged in a sex dungeon instead of walking in public, were it not for the tactical straps wrapped around her legs and hips that made her pistols and daggers plain for all to see. Her outfit, like Lara herself, was both sensual and very clearly dangerous, in more ways than one.

Lara stepped onto the sidewalk, a movement that sent captivating motions rolling across her body. The driver offered a kevlar vest, but she dismissed him with a wave of one elegant hand, and zeroed her gaze in on me. I heard Karrin make a noise, but I couldn't tell if it was one of annoyance or disgust. Probably both.

The White Court Queen strolled across the sidewalk, hips rolling with every step, and stopped a foot away, with one hand on her hip. "I must admit, wizard mine, you were exceptionally vague in your message. I most certainly expect you to… enlighten me on why you summoned me here."

"I told you why, Lara," I replied. I made a conscious effort to focus on a part of her body that didn't send blood rushing south. It was harder than it should've been.

Lara waved her hand through the air, "You said, and I quote 'I know who's behind the attacks, come to Chicago Alliance HQ, and be ready for a fight'. Even for you, that is frustratingly sparse on information."

Her eyes flicked from me to Pyrrha, and I saw a flicker of a smile, "Though I imagine it's possibly related to this lovely little treat you've brought with you perhaps?"

I didn't get a chance to say anything. Pyrrha stepped forward and stared into Lara's eyes with one of the most venomous glares I'd seen from her.

"Knock it off. Now. Or I will break both of your legs, right here, right now."

We all fell silent, and I felt my jaw drop. I knew that Pyrrha hadn't had the best introduction to a White Court Vampire, but I hadn't expected that from her of all people. I made a note to keep Pyrrha as far from Lara as I could in the future.

The woman broke into a dainty laugh, "Oh my, how fiery. You certainly are never short of strong-willed women, are you wizard mine?"

"To be fair, she found me." I replied. "And I'm pretty sure she's not kidding."

Lara turned casually to the side, amusement on her face, "Oh I can tell. I look forward to seeing you in action, little lamb. It's bound to be exciting."

Pyrrha just glared a hole into the side of her head, even as Lara turned back to me and said, "In all seriousness Dresden, why am I here?"

"That is a good question," I said, "And when everyone's here, I'll tell you. I think you can agree that if I had to repeat myself a few times, it would get old fast."

Lara folded her arms, but said nothing to that. I was taking more than a small risk mouthing off like I was, but that had hardly stopped me before. Besides, if I had timed this right, then the everyone else would be arriving at any moment.

"Harry," Butters asked. "Who else is showing up?"

I smiled in response, but didn't say anything. Karrin flung her hands into the air with a sigh and found a seat on the steps where Pyrrha joined her. I will not deny that I was enjoying this more than I should, but us wizards have to get our amusement from somewhere.

Luckily for everyone, we didn't have to wait long for the next party to arrive. They were heralded by a convoy of white vans, four in total, that parked on the already crowded street. I couldn't hide my grin as everyone moved forward with curiosity, save Lara. The side doors slid open with a rhythmic 'bang bang!', and I watched as men and women clad in body armor, armed with swords and staffs, and dressed in long grey cloaks came filing out of the vans. Even though the vehicles had been filled to capacity, it only took a solid minute for them to organize themselves into neat rows.

"Empty Night…" I heard Thomas breathe, and I grinned at him.

"For once, everything is in our favor," I said.

My friends and my brother looked stunned and for very good reason. When I turned back to the group of grey-clad wizards, I was approached by a familiar 'young' woman. She looked to be in her late twenties, but I knew she was actually far older and that her current appearance was the result of a body-swapping necromancer. She had long, curly brown hair, a sweet pretty face with adorable dimples, and wore an expression of dead seriousness.

Warden Commander Anastasia Luccio, accompanied by Carlos Ramirez, bowed her head to me briefly, and said, "Regional Commander Harry Dresden, the Wardens of the White Council are at your disposal."

My grin faded into a softer smile, "That's the best news I've heard all day, Commander. Glad to see you back in the field again."

She nodded, "It's good to be back."

I raised a fist to Ramirez, and he rapped his knuckles against mine, "Told ya not to start the party without me, Dresden." Ramirez said.

"It's not a party until you show up anyway, Ramirez," I chuckled. It was good seeing them both there, and having this many Wardens was an immense relief. While they hadn't dealt with any Grimm yet, the Council _had_ just survived a brutal magical war with the Red Court. Not one of the men and women standing before me had survived that without a respectable level of combat experience. It had also left most of them very young for their occupation. Anastasia Luccio might be one of the few exceptions, but the new body had come with a reduced capacity for magic. It was also the reason that most of my fellow Wardens, like myself, lacked one of the specially forged swords that our ranks customarily carried. She had lost the ability to create them along with her body.

I glanced over the crowd and frowned, "I was hoping for someone from the Senior Council. No dice?"

Luccio imitated my frown, "The Senior Council is… preoccupied for the moment. Fomor activity has increased drastically. Ancient Mai and the Merlin are coordinating several operations, and Ebenezar McCoy is leading one of them. The Gatekeeper has vanished, and Wizard Listens-to-Wind is on standby for medical treatment."

I mentally cursed. The Wardens would make a huge difference, but members of the Senior Council were a league all their own. If we had even one member on our side, it could turn what I knew was going to be a hard battle into a curbstomp. Of course, that was also why I had one more ace up my sleeve.

Lara tapped her foot impatiently, and watched the Wardens with equal parts caution and disdain, which they happily returned. "Wizard, will you finally explain what this is about?"

"We've got one more person," I replied without looking at her. "Then I'll tell you everything you want to know."

Ramirez frowned, "You're not talking about who I think you're talking about, are you Harry?"

"That depends on who you're thinking he's talking about." Molly said from beside him.

Everyone yelped, and thirty Wardens raised their weapons at her. Molly smiled innocently at them and folded her arms until they lowered their weapons.

"Dios mio…" Luccio cursed under her breath.

"Damn it Molly, you nearly gave me a heart attack." Will cursed, taking a few steps back away from her.

Molly shrugged. She was the only one not fancied up for what was to come. Given that she was a Faerie Queen, she could probably change her outfit with a wave of her hand, so I didn't comment on it.

I instead turned to Lara and said, "Now I can explain everything… inside."

She glared at me.

I smiled again.

"If you are all quite finished, may we handle the matter at hand?" someone said from the stairs. All eyes moved up the stairs were Johnny Marcone stood with his hands folded behind his back, flanked by Gard and Hendricks.

My smile turned into a sneer, "Hey John, how's your security holding up?"

Marcone regarded me with those faded green eyes like a child, and said, "Currently under re-evaluation. How Torchwick escaped is currently under intense investigation."

"Oh, _that's_ a relief," Karrin muttered.

That got a sigh out of the crime boss, "Miss Murphy, Dresden, we could spend all day sniping at one another, but I do believe there are greater issues at hand, are there not?"

I hate it when he's right. Even though Torchwick escaping is entirely Marcone's fault, I can't really blame him entirely. People from Pyrrha's world were just full of surprises, so Torchwick finding a way out wasn't entirely impossible. I was still going to give Marcone shit over it though.

"Alright, everyone inside," I said. "We've got a lot of things to catch you up on, and very little time to do it, so let's go!"

For once in my life, people listened.

And that was how I knew that it was the end of the world.

There was no way we were going to cram forty people into the building's conference room, so we met in the gym instead. Once I had everyone settled down, I gave them the best summary I could of what had happened the past few days and what we knew. To my immense relief, I wasn't interrupted once, and was able to finish in half-an-hour. When I did, the room remained silent.

Given how unnerving it is having forty blank faces staring at you, I coughed into my hand and asked, "So… does anyone have any questions?"

Luccio spoke up,"These Grimm creatures, exactly how many variants could we be dealing with?"

I looked to Pyrrha for the answer. "No one knows how many variations of Grimm exist. While climate and geography can limit what species one might encounter, it's not unheard of for new species of Grimm to simply spring into existence."

"Like those… Terror Birds you mentioned," Ramirez said.

Pyrrha nodded, "Yes. And from my personal experience, Cinder has some control over the Grimm, augmenting her already dangerous abilities."

"Which brings me to my second questions," Luccio said. "How powerful is this Cinder? What is she capable of?"

Again, I left this one to Pyrrha to explain. In fact, I took a seat and let her stand at the center of attention. She knew more about what we'd be charging into than I would, so better let her handle it instead of let me talk out of my ass.

"Cinder is stronger than any Huntsman I've fought before. With the power of the Fall Maiden, her Aura is supercharged. She is incredibly fast, durable and strong with its power. But it also gives her the ability to freely generate fire hot enough to melt steel, attain flight, and if the legends are true, manipulate the weather. I never saw her use it when we fought, but I saw plenty of the rest."

"But you survived it," Ramirez pointed out.

Pyrrha scratched at her head, "Er, no. Were it not for outside intervention, I would be dead. I might be able to match Cinder when it comes to skill, but that can only take you so far against that much raw power."

"Which is where I'd come in." Molly interrupted. She got a few dirty looks from the Wardens, but Luccio was not one of them.

In fact, she seemed intrigued by her statement, "That is true. The Winter Lady does possess tremendous power, so if this Cinder enters the battlefield, it would be best to let Miss Carpenter engage her."

Molly almost looked disappointed by Luccio's reasonable attitude. She held no love towards the Wardens, and I was pretty sure she was enjoying the fact that she was outside their jurisdiction now. I made a mental note to talk with her about that later. Just because she was hands-off now didn't mean it was a great idea to go picking a fight, deserved or not - especially not now.

"Of course, that is assuming Cinder enters the battlefield at all," Marcone said. "According to Dresden, she's not at the peak of her health right now. She may simply send her underlings to deal with us."

"Right," Pyrrha agreed, a fact that made her look noticeably sick. "Which is why I'm here. I know more about the Grimm than anyone here. Though as a word of warning, this may take a while."

I exchanged a look with Karrin. Pyrrha had educated us before on what kind of Grimm we might run into. How bad could this be?

Forty-five minutes later and my head felt like it had been dunked in a bucket of ice-water. Pyrrha definitely knew a lot about the Grimm, but her presentation was interrupted here and there when someone didn't understand a term, or wanted more detail. For instance, some of the names were clear enough in context. Beowolf meant wolf-man, Ursa meant bear, but Death-stalker and Beringel had to be filled in. Occasionally she would turn to me for the closest Earth comparison, then continue on her merry way.

Hearing about so many different variations was what some might call 'demoralizing'. And they'd be right. The only saving grace of that detail though, was the fact that Pyrrha made it clear that most of the variants she mentioned weren't exceptionally common. This made them more dangerous, but our chances of running into them were less likely. Small comfort, but in this business you take what you can get.

It was obvious when Pyrrha finished that there were still dozens of questions from everyone, but we didn't have time to answer them all. We'd spent enough time catching them up to speed, it was time to move onto planning. That lead to a slew of problems all it's own.

Most supernatural factions have reputations or relationships with other factions that make any form of unified direction as difficult to achieve as herding a pack of cats. Even though I only had to deal with the Wardens and White Court as the big supernatural factor, they still proved difficult to work with.

The Wardens were adamant in accompanying Lara's forces wherever they went for damage control at the very least, and Lara was rather annoyed at the idea of being babysat by them. Plus, we couldn't have two powerful forces overlapping like that anyway, it would leave everyone else weaker for it.

Karrin managed to smooth that problem out though. She, Butters, and the Alphas would go with Lara to the Chicago graveyard. That way, a human presence known by the Council could keep an eye on the White Court and reasonably be expected to keep them on a leash. Molly meanwhile, was going to the Velvet Room on her own and received no complaints on that front. Which left the Wardens and Marcone's forces for the airport.

That was the one thing we all decided on, to let Marcone's people handle that particular area. He had the resources to evacuate it, temporarily, and the manpower to push into whatever Grimm infestation might be there. With the Wardens augmenting him with magical knowhow and power, handling the Grimm would be that much easier. Throw in Pyrrha and I, and we felt pretty good about our chances. I'd considered letting Pyrrha go with Molly instead, but the airport was practically built for the redhead, a literal metal jungle for her to go nuts in, and she didn't protest the decision.

Deciding on who would go where was the easiest part of that whole damn meeting if I'm honest. But I'm nothing if not persistent, and almost four hours after Ivy had arrived and told us about the next attack, the Chicago Alliance and Winter Court were on the move. Karrin left with the Alphas in Will and Georgia's van, trailing behind Thomas and Lara's pale convoy. Molly vanished when we weren't looking, off to gather members of the Winter Court. That left the Wardens and Marcone's hired muscle.

Gentleman Johnny Marcone was a man who seemed prepared for every contingency, though given his position as a crime boss, I should've been less than surprised that he had several armored vans ready to go. There was more than enough room for everyone, with spare change. It's not every day you see Einherjar and Wardens hitching a ride together, let alone in heavily armored black vans. I'll be the first to admit it was a damned surreal sight.

Pyrrha and I were seated in the lead van, along with Marcone himself, Luccio, and Ramirez. Gard was up front driving with Hendricks in the passenger seat, and several more of Marcone's employees filled the vacant seats in the back with us.

I leaned back against the hard metal wall, feeling every crack and pothole that caused the van to sway. Before a big fight, I always took pains to take a few minutes to clear my mind. A cluttered mind and magic went together as well as water and lightning, with far more explosive results. This whole mess had flung me all over Chicago like a battered rag doll, destroyed my new home, and put one of my friends and my daughter at risk; there was a lot on my mind.

Across from me, Pyrrha sat leaning forward, eyes closed and quiet. Her left hand opened in close in time with the jostling of the truck. Ramirez drummed his fingers against his leg, and Luccio kept scanning the truck with her steely commander's gaze. Only Marcone, who sat with his back facing the front of the truck, looked truly relaxed though, in his own unique way.

I don't know how he managed to get the Chicago airport cleared out, or clearing us into that mess, but the implications disturbed me. I always knew Marcone's reach was far, but just how wide was the spider's web? There was a lot I'd missed in my year long absence from the world. When this was over, it would be time to play catch-up again. To hell with the consequences of stepping on his Signatory status, and double-to-hell with the fact that I helped put him there.

But that was for another day.

There was a loud pounding from the front of the truck, and that little slide that separated the cab and the rear slid open. Marcone glanced at Hendricks and the two exchanged quiet words before he slid the window closed again. When he turned back, he found four sets of curious eyes on him.

"The first team has arrived at O'Hare, and is sweeping through the interior." he informed us.

It hadn't taken a lot of convincing to keep us walking structural hazards from joining the team on the inside sweep. There was doubt that the portal would be located inside the airport, but it was better to be safe than sorry. There were five teams total, and they would sweep through each terminal and report back immediately if they came across any Grimm activity. That would be passed back to the mobile command station at the rear of our convoy and relayed to Marcone, who would then tell me or Luccio if I was busy.

More than a small part of me prayed that the Grimm wouldn't be inside the terminal. If I had the choice between fighting them in cramped quarters or on the twenty miles of tarmac that made up most of O'Hare airport, I'd go with the latter. Fighting the Beringel had shown me that Grimm thrived when their opponents couldn't maneuver, and they didn't need any more advantages.

Hendricks reported the same news to Marcone four more times along our drive, then fell silent. If the sweep was completed without issue, they'd report back, otherwise they were to maintain radio silence. I squirmed in my seat; thinking in all of this military jargon was weird. Most of my battle strategy consisted of 'fight the hilariously more powerful dude, get butt kicked, drag sorry self home, prepare for round two and pray you survive'. Going in with the deck stacked in my favor was enough to set my nerves on edge.

That's why, when the truck began to slow, I immediately sat up and tightened my grip on my staff. The others saw my motion and sent me a look, save for Marcone, who smirked at me. The jerk.

"We are in fact, arriving, Dresden." he confirmed.

Double-jerk.

Ramirez turned to the door, "Alright then, just drop us off in the white zone and we'll start unloading."

"Ramirez, you unload in the red zone, not the white zone." I reminded him.

He grinned, "No, you unload in the white zone, red zone is for pick up only."

"The red zone has always been for loading and unloading of passengers. There's never stopping in a white zone."

"Now, don't you tell me which zone is for loading and which zone is for stopping." Ramirez replied, trying not to laugh.

Pyrrha looked between us both then looked at Luccio and asked, "Do you have any idea what's going on between them?"

"They're quoting a movie at each other." Luccio said dryly.

The girl pinched the bridge of her nose, "At a time like this? Surely you can't be serious."

There's a once in a lifetime opportunity, where the stars align, the weather is perfect, and the Blue Moon rises, that a straight line like that is gift wrapped in dropped in someone's lap. There was no telling when I would get another chance like this, I _had_ to take it now. I opened my mouth, and...

"I am serious," Luccio said, then added, "And don't call me Shirley."

I froze, with my mouth wide open. Ramirez snorted and started chuckling, a smirk appeared on Marcone's face, and I'm pretty sure the scary bodyguards in faceless masks were shaking violently from barely contained laughter, or simultaneous seizures.

Luccio smiled at me innocently, and Pyrrha just looked baffled. I slumped into my seat, content to pout for the rest of the drive. It was at this moment of course, that the truck finally rumbled to a stop. The rear doors swung open a moment later, letting in pale filtered light.

I was the first out, jumping out onto the tarmac. The storm clouds were gathering again, though there was no sign of rain yet. We'd parked somewhere between Terminal Five and Terminal Three, I wasn't sure. As a wizard, I always avoided air travel. In a car, if it shut down, you were just stuck on the side of the road. In a plane, if it shut down, you were shit out of luck. On the single flight I've taken, we had to make an emergency landing, and I swore off attempting it ever again.

That hadn't saved O'Hare from my wrath before, and I had a feeling the old airport was going to be seeing a lot more of it today. Thankfully, whatever Marcone had done to get it evacuated had worked. The entire complex was a ghost town: Even the large passenger jets sat at their terminals, silent and unused. There were about eight of the armored vans, six arranged in a half circle with two larger ones forming a V in the center. Wardens and Einherjar were already moving, the former preparing magical instruments while the latter prepared gun emplacements. Some of the magical warriors hauled open the doors on the trucks forming the V, unveiling Marcone's personal weapon for the horde of Grimm we might be facing.

Two heavy miniguns, armed and ready. I saw Gard already manning one of them, with Hendricks preparing boxes of ammunition. I couldn't help but grin at the sheer firepower we had at our disposal, and was more than a bit giddy just thinking about seeing the Grimm run into it.

Pyrrha appeared beside me, her facial features a mask of calm. "Do you think it'll be enough?" she asked.

I tapped my staff on the concrete, "If we were stuck with one or the other, no. But when you're able to bring Magic and Technology together, there's not a lot that can stand in its way. I'm liking our odds."

She didn't reply to that, looking off toward the far side of the terminal. Her lips pressed into a thin line and she said, "They're here. They're coming."

I didn't have time to question her on it. Once the words left her mouth, the ground began to shake. It was a low rumbling sound that reverberated through the earth and up my feet. If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought it was an earthquake, but I'd seen what a horde of monsters can do if it was large enough. This was no exception.

The Grimm came in a wave of black fur, pale bone, and scarlet eyes, crashing over anything unfortunate enough to get in their way. They clambered over the larger jets and buildings, but I saw a smaller passenger jet get knocked across the field and get promptly buried under the weight of Ursai and those new Beowolfs.

"Dios mio…" I heard Ramirez whisper in awe. I don't know how the Grimm managed to keep themselves hidden from the public, or how long they'd managed it, but here they were in full force, larger than what we'd faced at the UC. Four, five, maybe six hundred of them came charging towards us. It was so much more than what we had faced before.

But this time, we were ready for them.

If Luccio was put-off by the rampaging sea of tooth and claw sprinting towards us, she showed no further sign of it. She and several Wardens approached the edge of the 'battle-line' the maximum distance before friendly fire ceased being relevant. She barked several rapid orders in smooth latin, and the Wardens went to work.

I sensed more than I felt the magic at work, and recognized it for what it was. I was no slouch at Terramancy, Earth Magic, but when it came to invocation-based magic, Pyromancy (and more recently, Cryomancy) was where I was strongest. But those who excelled at it were a force to be reckoned with, and several of them working in sync, well..

The mobile wall of horror was a thousand feet away, when the ground before them simply opened like a giant mouth and swallowed the first line whole. The rest pressed on, faster, stronger, howling with barely contained rage and excitement. Ripples of concrete began slamming into them in cresting waves, knocking out ten or fifteen Grimm at a time. I watched a pillar explode from the ground, and fall into the crowd, flattening dozens of Creeps and a few Ursai under its massive weight. The very earth itself shuddered and groaned with each attack, bucking under our feet. Yet the black mass surged onward as if it were nothing.

Pyrrha shifted nervously from foot to foot, and I could tell she was itching to go charging in. But she trusted me enough to know what I was doing, to let me handle this my way first. And when it came to my way, there was only one way.

Sheer, overwhelming, firepower.

The Terramancers' final spell, at five hundred feet distance, was a doozy. Instead of swallowing more Grimm, they forced the concrete to compress itself and rise… and rise… and rise.

A hill of stone, several hundred feet across and fifty feet high. I heard more Grimm crash into the new hill, but if the initial attack didn't slow them, then neither did this. Their work done, the Wardens retreated behind the Einherjar.

Gard grinned like a madwoman, and began revving her minigun. It began to whir softly, an ominous warning to the hell it was about to unleash. The first Grimm crested the hill, a dozen, three dozen, fifty. When the first hundred had crested, Gard and her partner let loose.

For those curious, a minigun firing isn't like how it is in the movies, a solid 'whump whump whump' that sounds intimidating but isn't that fast. No, they only sound like that if you fire and rev them at the same time. Gard had been revving hers the moment we knew the Grimm were coming. So instead of a heavy staccato thunderclap, it was an ear-splitting whine. I covered my ears, as did Pyrrha, but couldn't tear my eyes away from the spectacle.

The first few Grimm simply… vanished. One moment, they were charging downhill, eyes blazing like pits to hell, and the next they were bits of black tar in the wind. It was pretty clear that the more powerful a Grimm, the more damage it could take and you would need higher and higher levels of firepower to injure one. That's why that damn Beringel could take a full shot from my blasting rod and get back up, but a Creep disintegrated under a few high powered bullets.

The Beowolfs fared no better, being chewed to pieces under a second of sustained fire. The Ursai managed to last a little longer, but these were low level monsters, the expendable troops. Like an army of fanatics, they charged straight on into the enemy fire, dying in droves for every inch they managed to get down hill. But they did inch down the hill, slowly but surely.

The bodies that didn't disintegrate under raw firepower quickly evaporated on their own. The Grimm didn't have to waste time clawing over the deceased, they could just keep coming. I watched three rounds rip a Creep to pieces, and cripple a Beowolf behind it. An Ursa barreled through it, killing it in the process before Gard reduced it to chunks.

That was the disturbing mentality behind the Grimm I realized. We could hurt them, kill them, even slow them down, but they would _never_ stop coming. Wave after wave, body after body. We could kill a hundred of them and two hundred more would be waiting. That was the fate awaiting Earth, if we failed.

It was one hell of a motivator, that's for sure.

I suddenly realized something had changed though, and it took me a minute to realize why, through the ringing in my ears. The gunfire had stopped. And so had the Grimm. I watched a single Beowolf stumble down the hill, its body a glowing Picasso of bullet holes, before it too collapsed and died. Then, it was silent.

"... Well I don't know about you, but that was very exciting!" Gard yelled. I noticed she wasn't wearing any headphones, the madwoman.

Marcone appeared besides me, and said, "Indeed. If you are done gawking Dresden, I believe we should move forward, before more arrive, correct?"

I rubbed my ear vigorously in an effort to clear the ringing out. "Right! Let's move people!"

We didn't waste time lowering the hill the Wardens had raised; there would be time for that later. It wasn't a steep climb, but the concrete had been reduced to a grainy sand by the sheer firepower unleashed on it. The Grimm certainly lacked any stopping power, that was for sure. Pyrrha scaled the hill easier than any one of us, pulling ahead ten, fifteen feet easy. She reached the summit before any of us.

And right when an explosion, like a sonic boom, cracked through the stormy sky. But it wasn't thunder or lightning, this was close, and much lower. Pyrrha turned to me, a grave expression on her face.

"Go!" I shouted, "See what happened, but wait for us before you charge in!"

She nodded and disappeared down the hill. I could feel Marcone drilling a glare into the back of my skull, but ignored it. Pyrrha wasn't a kid, and despite being a bit headstrong, had more than proved herself. I trusted her to wait for us if she saw something she couldn't handle.

We crested the hill and half slid half stumbled down it and after Pyrrha. It didn't take long to catch up to her. She had paused under one of the jets waiting for us. I raised a questioning brow when we finally caught up.

"I saw him," she explained. "I saw Cowl."

Oh.

Hell's Bells.

If he was here, than that meant that this was going to be a very ugly fight, even with Wardens. I had beaten Cowl once before, but that had been when he was vulnerable. If it were just me, I'm not so sure I'd win. But now, the odds were on my side, and we didn't have any time to waste. I turned to Luccio and Ramirez. They nodded and we moved.

All of the Wardens followed, while Marcone held back, waiting to see how things unfolded. Getting in the way of a wizarding brawl was a good way to get fried, and no one with sense wanted any part of that. Hell's Bells, _I_ didn't want any, but if wanting was having, I'd be at home with my feet up and a munchkin nestled under my chin, not trying to stop a damned ocean of monsters. Pyrrha lead us under the jet and around the terminal overhead. There was a garage under the upper floor of O'Hare, the perfect place to set up shop for some dark rituals. There was no way that Cowl wouldn't have heard the fighting, he had to be expecting us. Or at least, armed men and women. I was also pretty sure he wasn't expecting the White Council either.

Just as we approached the garage door, it exploded into a ball of fire. On instinct, I raised my shield, protecting myself from the blast of heat and pressure rolling towards me. The other Wardens did the same, deflecting fire and debris, but unable to do anything about the flash of light.

I blinked my eyes clear, and ignored the renewed ringing in my ears. The first thing I saw, was the fire raging before us, not a natural fire. It had to stand ten feet high easily, and burned white hot. I stepped back, noting the other Wardens following my lead, and cautiously lowered my shield. The heat, even from a dozen feet away, felt like standing before a vast furnace. I immediately broke out into a sweat and let out a noise of disgust.

"Looks like things are heating up." I muttered, and glanced to Pyrrha.

That was when I noticed the _second_ change brought on by the explosion. Pyrrha was gone.

"Pyrrha!?" I yelled, whipping my head about for a sign of the red-head, and found nothing. The burning fire twisted my worry into a hot fear. On instinct, I roused the Winter Mantle, feeling the chill settle over my body, seeping into my arms and legs and coating the runes of my staff in frost.

 _Infriga forzare!_

I thrust my staff at the flames before me, using my will to redirect a small part of the fire. I pushed and pulled the heat into the air, leaving an icy void in its place. It didn't last long, and only created a hole two or three feet wide for me to see through. What I saw though, sent another chill down my spine.

The Blackstones had been arranged in a five-pointed star, surrounded by a circle, a pentacle. Hovering above it, was a doorway a dozen feet across and equally as high, dripping black ooze onto the floor while scarlet lines of fire raced through the concrete in intricate symbols. Beyond the doorway, was a hellish landscape of bloody crags and violet diamonds that rose like skyscrapers into an angry sky.

All of this though, was just window dressing for the person standing at the foot of the portal.

She'd ditched the modest attire I'd seen her in last, replacing it with a long slinky red dress that showed that she was far more mature than I had assumed. One side had a slit down one side, exposing a tight covered leg. The shoulders were lined with golden stitching and her right one was left bare. A black glove covered her right arm while a long sleeve covered the other. Her hair was still cut short, and the scarring visible on her face. But the shame and anger I had seen before was gone, replaced with bemusement.

Cinder Fall had arrived on Earth in all her terrible power and glory.

And Pyrrha was charging right at her.

 **A/N: Ho-boy, now ya'll see why I needed a week for this damn chapter. Its a long one and for good reason. I expected it to be shorter, but it just kept growing and growing and growing...**

 **Anyway, next post won't be for two weeks at least, because I am working on the ENTIRE climax will be, at minimum, three chapter, but more likely four or five. There's a LOT of shit about to go down, and we're finally at the entire reason I wrote this fic in the first place. Pyrrha vs Cinder, Round 2!**

 **Until then though, I'll see you all in about two weeks! Ciao!**


	37. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

The initial explosion lifted Pyrrha clear off her feet and tried to smash her into the ground. Instinct and training kept her wits intact well enough for her to keep her legs under her, and she stuck the landing, skidding backwards several feet before stopping. She lowered her arms and rapidly blinked to clear her eyes of the white film that had been pulled over them; even sound came to her as a muted rumbling.

Slowly, the world came back into focus for Pyrrha, just in time for her to see it consumed by flame. Fire rolled to the left and right of the garage, curving into a circle around her. She didn't need to look to see it close tight behind her; she could feel the intensity of the heat through her Aura and her armor, and a thin layer of sweat was already forming on her face. The former would protect her body, but the latter wouldn't be as effective against it.

The flames themselves, however, were only a minor concern. It was their source that grabbed Pyrrha's full attention. As her vision cleared, Pyrrha recognized the woman who stood at the base of the portal, in all her terrible power and glory, outlined by the hellish light of the arch behind her. Cinder Fall had drastically changed since she and Pyrrha had last fought, but the glow of power in her remaining eye, and the bemused twitch of her lips was infuriatingly familiar to Pyrrha.

With but a thought, Miló and Akoúo̱ were pulled to her hands. The incredibly foolish act of attacking Cinder again was something Pyrrha felt more than ready to repeat. The turmoil of anger and hate that swirled inside her was palpable, and to some level, disturbed her. It was only her upbringing and instincts as a warrior that prevented her from repeating her mistake. She paused, scanning her opponent for weaknesses and strengths.

Cinder was blind in one eye now, that much was clear. Any attack coming from her left would be difficult to detect, and the woman would be well aware of that. She would probably favor that side in an effort to protect it, but it would provide an excellent weakness to exploit under proper conditions. There was also, Pyrrha noted, a stiffness to her posture. While Cinder still wore her bemused expression, the few times Pyrrha had seen her outside of a fight had shown her calm and relaxed, almost slouching where she stood. Now, she stood unnaturally still, like a living statue. It was possible that her injuries extended beyond her scarred face, which would make her more dependent on her powers.

That covered strengths. Obviously Cinder had no problem in utilizing her powers as the Fall Maiden, which meant her physical weaknesses could easily be compensated for. So despite being handicapped, Cinder would still hold the advantage over Pyrrha by herself. The extra help would only further tilt the odds in her favor.

The trio of Emerald, Mercury, and Neo emerged from the portal directly behind Cinder. They looked no worse for wear compared to the last time she had seen them. The explosion at the factory had been far from lethal, despite its volatile release. Even if it had hurt them, four on one odds gave Pyrrha further pause. She might be able to take any one of the three, but she would surely fall to the others. The only thing that kept her from attempting to scale the wall of fire behind her, was the certainty that it would prompt them into an attack. She would have to wait to see how things unfolded, but for now, she was paralyzed by circumstance.

Cinder snapped her fingers, and Emerald was at her side in a blink of an eye, listening intently as the scarred woman whispered into her ear. Even that simple act brought a noticeable expression of discomfort to her face. Pyrrha filed that away for later.

Emerald pulled away from Cinder when she finished and said, "Come on, we're dealing with the others."

Neo raised a brow, and Mercury unfolded his arms, "Um, why?"

Cinder fixed Pyrrha with a steely gaze, that she happily returned. Having two eyes made her glare sharper. Emerald gestured at them both, "She wants to finish what she started. We're just making sure no one interrupts."

A grin crossed the young man's face, "Heh, alright then."

The three of them turned to leave, and Pyrrha took one step after them. A ball of fire, no bigger than her fist, flew past her face and hit the pavement. Molten asphalt exploded from the impact less than a foot from Pyrrha, peppering her with the black gunk. She stepped back and glared at Cinder.

Her arm fell to her side, drifting smoke in its wake, and the side of her mouth twitched. The message was simple, and Pyrrha felt her stomach fill with dread. The others would be on their own for now. Behind Cinder, Neo smirked at Pyrrha and followed the others out of the ring of fire, leaving the redhead to her fate.

Pyrrha's fist tightened on Miló's grip, and she readied Akoúo̱. Cinder made no movement, save for the flicker of power in her eye. Coiling her legs like springs, Pyrrha launched herself across the open field toward Cinder.

In a flash of fire and ash, a slender charcoal-colored blade materialized in Cinder's left hand, and she met Pyrrha's first strike head on, deflecting the stab to the right. Pyrrha moved with the momentum, slamming Akoúo̱ into the side of Cinder's head, and quickly spinning out of her reach. Cinder barely reacted to the blow, and casually turned toward Pyrrha, amusement glittering in her eye.

The moment Pyrrha settled back on her feet, Cinder flashed toward her. There was little finesse to her attacks, but they were hard, fast, and precise. Though Cinder only had one blade, she was excellent at applying pressure on Pyrrha, forcing her back step by step, and cutting off her routes of escape before Pyrrha could exploit them. Cinder had lost her general finesse and grace, but had replaced it with a hard cunning and sheer brutality.

Pyrrha needed to distance herself from Cinder before she got cornered, or this fight would be over before it began. Cinder slashed at Pyrrha from the right, but she deflected the blow with her shield, and with a flick of a switch, transformed Miló into its spear form. Pyrrha twirled and stabbed the butt of her weapon into Cinder's stomach. The action made Cinder pause, long enough for Pyrrha to finish her spin and bring the edge of her shield down on Cinder's shoulder.

There was a loud clang as the concave edge of Akoúo̱ crashed onto Cinder's collarbone. Her eye flashed with the shock of pain, and she reflexively punched with her gloved right hand. Cinder might as well have hit Pyrrha with a cannonball; the force of the blow sent her flying a good ten feet across the ground, and knocked all the air from her lungs.

Pyrrha landed on her back and barely rolled to her feet, sagging in place as she sucked in fresh air. Despite being protected by armor and her Aura, Cinder possessed immense strength. Besides, Aura only protected from injury, it did not protect from pain, as Cinder herself had just been reminded.

A smirk crossed Pyrrha's face when she looked up and saw Cinder massaging the curve between her shoulder and neck, and wincing as she did so. Of all the places to be hit, the collarbone had the least amount of flesh protecting it and was one of the most painful places on the human body to be struck. Even the power of the Fall Maiden couldn't protect her from that simple fact.

Cinder's eye flashed with annoyance at Pyrrha, fire danced along the tips of her fingers. But only on her left hand, the right held her sword now. That was an interesting detail. Pyrrha had assumed that Cinder was wearing a black glove over her right hand, but on closer inspection, that might not be the case. Could it be that Cinder's injuries limited _how_ she could summon her power now?

A high-pitched whistling suddenly filled the air, and Pyrrha yelped before diving to the side. A ball of fire flew past her and detonated against the airport walls, showering Pyrrha's back in chips of flaming concrete. Before she even got back to her feet, Cinder appeared before her and struck.

Pyrrha intercepted the blow with Miló's hilt, supported by Akoúo̱. Sparks flew up from the impact, quickly fading into ash. Cinder pressed down harder, her strength relentless and unnatural. Pyrrha's arms shook and her heart thundered in her chest, and to her horror, the long hilt of her weapon was beginning to bend under the strain. Cinder snarled and a dozen lines of fire raced across her blade and ignited its edge. Heat raked across Pyrrha's face, forcing her to release her weapon.

Cinder's sword clashed with the concrete and shattered into a thousand glittering black shards. Pyrrha scrambled away on her back, trying to put as much distance between herself and Cinder as possible. Cinder rose to her feet and sneered at Pyrrha, and a new sword appeared in her hand once more. Pyrrha inwardly groaned in frustration and staggered to her feet. The fire still raged around them, the air growing unbearably hot with each passing second. In her armor, Pyrrha felt like she was being smothered alive, but if she even took a moment to try and remove it, Cinder would be on her like a fox on a rabbit. But that was hardly the worst of it.

Because Pyrrha knew now what she was facing, and this was only the opening act. She sighed and called to Miló with her Semblance. The spear found her hand in an instant, and she reduced it to its smaller sword mode while giving it a few practice swings. Their warmup was finished, it was time to get serious.

Which is when a spear of ice exploded through Pyrrha's veins, starting in the center of her chest. The sudden intensity sucked all the strength from Pyrrha so that all she could manage was a surprise gasp, before she collapsed flat on her back. Her chest ached, a burning pain that pulsed in the center of her sternum, over her heart. With each pulse, her limbs contracted, and her vision blurred, and the world vanished from her senses.

Pyrrha was, vaguely, aware that Cinder was standing over her, possibly confused by the sudden attack to Pyrrha's very being. But there was nothing Pyrrha could do about it, and the part of her not wracked with pain, was frustrated at being incapacitated. She wouldn't be able to escape Cinder and would probably die again. Only this time, there wasn't going to be anyone there to bring her back.

Then, as quickly as it had begun, the pain ceased. Pyrrha blinked a few times, and her vision immediately cleared. Overhead, she saw the opening to the garage where the portal had been activated. Her head rolled to left, where she saw the portal itself.

More of the black substance had dribbled out from the portal, and was visibly growing outward, traced with lines of glowing crimson energy following the edge. At the center, beneath the glowing doorway into Remnant, stood five Blackstones, their runes ablaze with dark energy. Pyrrha watched the light pulse, and felt another wave of pain wrack her body. It wasn't as mind-numbing as the first, so this time Pyrrha was unable to stop the scream of pain that wracked her to her bones…

And then it stopped. Not because the pulsing ceased, but because Cinder grabbed Pyrrha by her hair and flung her out of the garage. Pyrrha landed face first on the ground, and made no move until she heard Cinder's heels clicking against the concrete. Miló's grip still filled Pyrrha's hand, the comforting presence of an old friend. Despite the protest of her aching body, Pyrrha pushed herself to her feet with the help of her sword and shield. As she staggered to a standing position, she saw Cinder, standing farther from the portal than before.

Pyrrha bared her teeth in an expression that bared only a passing resemblance to a smile. Cinder's gesture was clear. Pyrrha readied herself, and felt the last of the pain start to filter away. Cinder smirked and twirled her saber, and behind her, the portal grew dark. Pyrrha paused, and focused on the portal…

There was no 'first Grimm' that emerged from it, they simply poured out as though a dam between worlds had shattered. For a moment, Pyrrha thought she and Cinder were both going to be swallowed by the rapidly growing tide of monsters. At the last moment though, the living black mass arced _up_ into the air, and began filling the sky with a thousand familiar cries. Pyrrha felt her blood go cold as she recognized them.

An entire flock of Nevermore's, not of the colossal ancient variety, like the one that had destroyed Harry's apartment, but the smaller bird-sized Nevermores. Thousands of them, swirling through the air as a living tornado of wings and talons and razor-sharp beaks, and while they may ignore her and Cinder, the Wardens and Harry would have no such luck.

Cinder didn't even pay the flock a second's notice, her attention solely devoted to Pyrrha. While the girl was distracted by the impressive display of numbers, Cinder attacked.

Until Pyrrha managed to escape from Cinder, Harry and his allies would have to handle the Grimm alone.

* * *

"No, no, no!" Harry cursed and gathered his will for another blast of icy wind. The wall of fire rose higher in challenge. The heat was intense, even with the Mantle, Harry was forced away. It's intensity barely left him any breath to swear yet again.

Luccio clapped a hand on his shoulder to drag him farther back. The flames roared like a hungry beast, and she shouted to be heard over them. "What did you see?"

Harry reined in his frustration, it wouldn't help anyone, especially Pyrrha. Sticking to the plan was still their best option, so unless the shit truly hit the fan, he'd reserve his anger for another time. He glanced at Luccio then back at the wall of fire, "It's Cinder: She's here and Pyrrha is fighting her."

Over the crackling fire, Pyrrha let out a scream of surprised pain that grabbed everyone's attention. Luccio's lips set in a thin line and she released Harry's shoulder. "Well then, we'd best hurry and help her. Wardens!"

The woman fell into command mode and the Wardens responded to her with quick precision, lining up before the raging inferno. Individually, any single Warden would be exceptionally powerful for a wizard; it was a requirement. But it was when they worked together, that was when the power of the Wardens would truly shine. As great as Cinder's own abilities might be, even she would have a hard time against thirty Wardens, working in concert.

As Luccio barked out commands, Harry looked back in Pyrrha's direction. The screaming had stopped for now, to his horror, but something had changed. It took Harry a moment to recognize what it was, as the smoke of the fire and the constant shifting hid it from him at first. But soon, Harry saw what had changed, or rather, what had arrived.

Like a billowing twister, thousands of pitch black birds swirled into the air, a whirlwind of talons and beaks and beady red eyes. Nevermores, a flock of them that swarmed like locusts, towered over Cinder's inferno There were so many that, even over the roaring blaze, the flapping of their wings could still be heard. If fire could be made to sound sinister, Harry couldn't imagine anything worse.

Harry took a step backwards, then whirled around to the Wardens and began shouting like a lunatic. "Wait! Stop! Everyone stop!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth did the Nevermores let out a cry so loud that it shook the very air around them. Individually, they might not have even come close to the size of the Grimm that had wrecked his apartment, but there were far more this time. The legion of demonic ravens filled the air with their metallic screeching that made nails on a chalkboard sound pleasant by comparison. Harry shouted and covered his ears while nearby, an airport trolley's windshield fractured. Everyone, from Warden to Einherjar, to Gard to Ramirez, even Marcone was sent sprawling from the wall of sound that slammed into them.

It ended as quickly as it began, but Harry felt his ears still ringing and the world seemed to be spinning beneath his feet. Still, he forced himself to turn back to the flock. His vision came into focus to see the twister bulge and contort itself, splitting into three long tendrils that snaked towards them faster than should've been possible.

"Hell's bells!" Harry shouted, and shook out his shield bracelet. "Shields up! Everyone, shields up!"

Maybe he was too far, or they were still recovering from the sonic attack, but no one reacted to Harry's order. It may well have spelled the end for their expedition then and there… But Anastasia Luccio was not a woman to let her men down that easily. Her voice, hard, commanding, and clear as day, cleared the air with a shout of latin, one word that summed up Harry's command.

" _Scutum!"_

Without question or pause, the Wardens nearest their captain raised their shields, invisible walls of force that could deflect bullets with ease. Harry stumbled in amongst them, adding his own shield to the magical wall, and watched as the Nevermores slammed into it with the force of a freight train.

The sound was remarkably similar to hail bouncing off plastic, a repetitive 'bong bong bong bong!' as the demon-birds met an immovable wall of force at full speed and were promptly crushed from behind by their overzealous comrades. Brilliant white-blue light expanded from each point of impact like ripples in a pond, until all Harry and the Wardens could see was a towering, glowing wall. But the shields held firm, protecting everyone who had been smart and fast enough to get into cover.

Unfortunately, one Warden and a handful of Einherjar failed to make it to cover, and the flock descended on them. Harry didn't see them fall under the wave of feathers and talons, but he heard their brief screams of pain and panic. By the time he turned his head to look, all that remained was a pool of blood and scraps of cloth. Harry felt his stomach churn, and was immensely grateful for Luccio's quick thinking. Despite their smaller size, these Nevermore might have been even more dangerous than the giant ones. The Warden hadn't even had time to release a Death Curse, he was just… gone, before he even realized what happened.

The flock of Nevermore that had consumed the unfortunate souls doubled back around and took roost along the nearest jetliner. Harry saw them fighting over the… scraps of their kill. One of them pounced on another, ripping and tearing with its beak and talons, shredding it and its scraps apart in seconds and devouring both. The bird screech and began shedding its feathers. What sounded like a symphony of cracking bone flew up and down the ranks of Nevermore, their bodies contorting in time with each chilling snap. A light snow of inky black feathers blanketed the ground replaced with new, larger feathers. Some of the remaining Nevermores had grown significantly larger, from the size of a crow to the size of a large eagle.

The implications of what they had just witnessed were lost on no one. Harry felt terrified, and at the same time, furious. He hadn't known the Warden that had died, or the men with him. But if these things, these monsters, escaped the airport and got into the city, it wouldn't take long for a swarm of Giant Nevermores to begin wreaking havoc.

Luccio had the same idea. She was already barking orders again, clearing her Wardens from their stunned stupor and whipping them into action. Harry's latin was far from perfect, but he was able to get a general sense of Luccio's command.

Ground them.

Harry had never personally witnessed the brunt of the Wardens in action, but he had seen what a few well trained members could do. However, that had been what was essentially a Spec-op's squad of Wardens. This was the main muscle, the arm of the White Council, meant to sweep aside their foes through overwhelming and controlled power. Harry had seen a taste of it in the terrific display of terramancy in the initial assault, but that was a hard skill to master, and very few wizards knew more than a few rudimentary spells for it. Almost every wizard, however - and especially every Warden - knew how to utilize aeromancy.

While the best of their shield-wielding Wardens maintained the wall between the Nevermore and the rest of their forces, the rest of the Wardens began bending nature's power to their will. It started as a strong breeze, a gust of wind that began kicking up dirt and debris. It rapidly grew into a full-force gale, screaming across the tarmac at speeds seen only in the most powerful of hurricanes.

The Wardens succeeded in bending the very winds to their wants and desires, and Mother Nature howled her fury in their name. Luggage that had been abandoned in the evacuation was sent flying across the tarmac, smaller vehicles were overturned, and all Harry could hear was the sound of the wind wailing in his ears. Only Luccio had enough hot air to overpower that fearsome bellowing, and she continued to bark out orders to the Wardens.

The Nevermore were not idle during this display of power. They seemed intelligent enough to realize that their prey was protected from them, for the moment, and they had begun swarming once again, taking to the air in that familiar tornado of black and red. But, to Harry's delight, Luccio had planned on that. The powerful gale force winds did not simply slam into the Nevermores like a lumbering battering ram. Instead, they began rapidly circling around it, creating a vortex of wind that pushed the Nevermore closer and closer together, forcing them to fly or die. Dozens of the demon-crows were flung from their swarm, and were reduced to crumpled black paste when they hit the ground or the airport buildings a moment later.

In a matter of seconds, what had once been a fearsome and terrifying enemy, was now a tightly bound package, just waiting for someone to open it. But Luccio was far from finished. Another wind blew across the ring of fire surrounding to their back, picking up the flames in its ethereal grasp. While the fire was too intense to be put out through traditional means, it was still fire at its core, which meant it was subservient to the laws of physics, as thin as they were when magic was involved.

"I believe showing our enemy a taste of their own medicine is more than appropriate, don't you agree?" Luccio asked Harry. She chuckled at his response, or lack thereof.

The wizard watched the fire move in silence, a look of awe on his face. It started at the bottom, but quickly began to rise, consuming the Nevermore's from the bottom up, tearing through their smaller forms with frightening ease. A few of the larger birds managed to force themselves out of their wind-blown prison, and began winging it towards the city. Without missing a beat, Harry pulled his revolver from his duster and blew the nearest Nevermore into a cloud of feathers and ink.

He then turned to Marcone with a smirk and asked, "Welp, we set up the shooting gallery. Want first dibs?"

Throughout the entire initial exchange, Marcone had barely said a word, content to remain a silent presence on the field. However, it was at this moment that the Chicago mob boss's lip quirked up on one side, and he said, "Why, I would be delighted to, Mr. Dresden."

He snapped his fingers, "Gard, Hendricks!" he barked.

His Right Hand Man and Left Hand Woman immediately got to work, shouting orders (Or subsonically growling them in Hendricks case) to the Einherjar. In seconds, the men were opening fire on the stragglers attempting to escape the slowly growing cyclone of fire. Nevermore fell from the sky in droves, coating the ground in black sludge. The flock was no longer the terrifying force it had seemed, but a pathetically easy foe they would wipe out in the next minute or two.

Which immediately set off alarm bells in Harry's head, because nothing he was involved with _ever_ went that easy. Something, somewhere, was going to go wrong, he just knew it.

He was right of course.

* * *

Running across the top of the nearest passenger, Mercury Black launched himself a good fifteen feet into the air, and brought both feet crashing down to earth. The poor Einherjar that turned around at the sound found both feet firmly planted in his chest, and was promptly crushed into the ground with a bloody hole in his chest. The ground around him cratered under the heavy impact, and a dozen Einherjar turned toward the youth in surprise.

Mercury stood up, a smirk plain as day on his face, and charged into Marcone's forces. It wasn't so much the speed or strength of his attack that caught the fools off guard, though it helped. The sheer ferocity and speed of his blows were devastating. Those far enough away to set their sights on Mercury couldn't open fire without risk of hitting their comrades. As a result, the first three men fell like strawmen, only messier. Opponents with no aura were seldom a challenge for him.

The first man didn't even realize what was happening. One moment he was turning toward the explosion behind him, the next he was on the ground, with his head lolling from side to side. The next one had time to see Mercury coming, but had none to react. Mercury rolled from the first man and came out of it with both his feet planted on the second man's chest. The thunder of twin shotguns was muffled by his mass, and he was sent flying across the tarmac with a dozen tiny holes in his chest. By this time, the third man was able to target Mercury and opened fire. The first round grazed the side of his head with a vicious sting. Mercury spun on his heel to the left, and kicked his right leg in the air. A shotgun blast roared from his boot and slammed into the man's head. What was left of his decapitated body slumped to the ground in a bloody pile.

Mercury stood up on both feet and cracked his neck, still wearing that smirk on his face. Half the Einherjar turned around to face Mercury, while the other half kept focus on the Nevermores. Mercury's smirk turned into a mildly annoyed frown; they were smarter than they looked, that wouldn't do at all. There was a brief pause, the tension saturating the air in its heavy embrace. Someone's trigger clicked, and that was all Mercury needed to hear.

Gunfire ripped through the air from a dozen different directions. Mercury weaved between the bullets, quickly closing with the nearest man. A knee to the chest, followed by a legsweep, then Mercury sent the still-falling man flying into a group of Einherjar with a savage kick.. He sped across the tarmac like a bat out of hell, bouncing from one man to another. Two or three kicks to disable them, kill them if he needed to. It wasn't necessary, all he needed was to keep them out of the fight, and it was almost frustrating how easy it was.

He landed between two more Einherjar, knocked one of them to ground with a sweep of his legs, and used the momentum to kick the other across the face with a sickening snap. The man collapsed, and a blur of grey kevlar and blonde hair sped over her fallen comrade and shoulder checked Mercury at the fork of his legs.

He let out an unnaturally high pitched yelp of pain and was propelled across the field by a living freight train. A hand with a grip like iron wrapped around his neck, and slammed him to the ground. The blinding pain from his groin and sudden shift in perspective threw Mercury off his momentum, and he struggled to get back to his feet. Sigrun Gard never gave him that chance, pouncing on Mercury and digging one knee deep into his gut while pinning him by the throat to the ground and wailing on him with her free hand.

While his Aura would protect him from the physical damage of her blows, Gard hit hard and fast. He wasn't being punched by a woman, he was being ground to dust by a jackhammer. Gard quickly realized that wailing on Mercury wasn't accomplishing much, and tried to grip his head with her hands and crush his eyes with her thumbs. Mercury's hands lashed out and wrapped tight around the woman's wrists, halting her in place.

Gard snarled under her breath and pressed hard against Mercury's own strength. Her arms trembled under the strain and a burning pain spread from her forearms to her biceps. Mercury kept his cool and slowly pushed Gard off of him. That was when Gard did something that he didn't expect.

Her head whipped forward like a snake's and she snapped her teeth on Mercury's nose, hard. Something snapped, and Mercury let out a howl of pain. Gard found herself soaring back through the air a moment later. She crashed, rolled across the ground, and came bouncing back to her feet, just in time to see Mercury charging at her across the ground, eyes ablaze with pained fury. His face was twisted in rage, made all the more terrifying for being spattered with blood.

He crossed the last twenty feet in a single bound, twisting on his heel with a spin kick that had killed several of Gard's men earlier. She anticipated it though, and instead of ducking under it, she grabbed his leg and twisted with his momentum, throwing him across the tarmac. Mercury spun, and the moment his feet hit the ground, he charged at Gard again.

With the initial pain subsided, Mercury was able to cool his head and focus. The result was a barrage of quick kicks and jabs that Gard blocked or took with ease. He wasn't trying to take her out just yet, he was interested in seeing what she was capable of. She had no Aura, but she was able to, at the very least, keep up with him and take some of his more vicious attacks without slowing down. Whatever Gard was, she wasn't human.

Gard caught one of Mercury's kicks, directed at her chest, and twisted his leg. He spun with the twist, landed on his hands, and like a breakdancer, spun himself like a demented top. Gard, caught off guard, took each kick, one to the side, one to the shoulder, and the last to the face.

She went down, and Mercury hopped back to his feet. He wasted no time going after her, jumping up and bringing his foot down. The ground where her head had been a moment ago shattered, sending debris flying up into the air. Mercury spun, kicking one at the still recovering Gard, knocking her back across the ground. He followed it with a vertical spin kick that brought his entire foot down on her chest. The sound of a shotgun went off against her chest, and…

A bolt of lightning smashed into Mercury, sending him careening across the tarmac and into the ground. Smoke rose from his prone form, and stars flashed in his eyes. He could smell burning ozone and hair. A quick reach to the top of his head confirmed that he'd been hit with some sort of electrical attack. His hair was standing on end, like an oversized dandelion.

"Damn," he grunted, and got to his feet. Across from him, Gard was standing as well, revealing a scorch mark on her chest.

The faint glow of a dozen ancient runes outline on her chest; the remains of a long dead civilization from a bygone age. There was a sickening crack from Mercury's right, and to his surprise, he saw one of the men he killed getting back up off the floor, rubbing at his once broken neck, but completely unharmed. Mercury looked around the field and felt his stomach sink; every Einherjar he had killed was back up again, at one hundred percent health, and gathering by Gard's side.

They looked eager and ready to fight, a bloodlust burning in their pale eyes. But they made no move towards him yet. Gard raised a single closed fist, and all eyes turned to her. Hendricks seemed to materialize beside her with a large case in his hand that he opened for her. Without looking, Gard reached into the case and withdrew a colossal double-bladed battleaxe, larger than Mercury's head, and casually spun it with one hand. More runes ignited along its edge and grip, burning a furious white light.

"You sure you want to take him alone?" Hendricks asked.

Gard responded by spitting a bloody tooth on the floor and grinning viciously at Mercury, "Keep the men focused on helping the Wardens, I'll handle the boy. I haven't had this much fun in centuries."

If Gard had meant to intimidate Mercury with that statement, he did an excellent job of hiding his reaction to it. He impatiently tapped his foot while the Einherjar left, and once the last one had left, Mercury charged.

* * *

Even from her perch underneath one of the terminals, Emerald could hear the sound of Mercury and Gard's fight. Steel sang, concrete crackled, and gunfire thundered as the two went at it. The fight between Cinder and Pyrrha was the only thing that overshadowed their little sparring match. Emerald hadn't been able to keep her eyes on the fight when she left, but she could hear the familiar hiss of Cinder's fire, followed immediately by miniature explosions. Pyrrha was putting up a fierce fight, as Emerald had suspected she would, but she wouldn't last forever. Once she was dead, hopefully for good this time, all that would be left was the Wardens and that man: Harry Dresden.

He was one of two focal points in this battle, the other Pyrrha. Cowl had told them what the man was capable of. Emerald doubted most of what the hooded jerk said, but the fact that Harry was here, with an army at his back, showed at least _some_ truth to the warlock's words. After Cinder killed Pyrrha, the Wardens and Harry would be the only real force left to stop them, even if Cinder dwarfed any of them individually.

There was strength in numbers, though; the Wardens had demonstrated that to great effect. Emerald had expected the first wave of Grimm to die; they were cannon fodder, after all. She had not expected them to fall without inflicting a single casualty, and the swarm of Nevermores had only claimed three victims. Now, they were being consumed by a pillar of fire - Cinder's fire, no less - and would join the initial wave in death, unless someone intervened.

That was where Emerald came in. She carefully pulled both revolvers from their holsters along the small of her back. They sprung into their sickle form with a soft hiss, gleaming with malicious purpose. With a flick of her wrist, one sickle came loose and slowly fell to hang by its chain, no longer a sickle, but a kusarigama. She wouldn't enjoy what she was going to do, but she'd do it, for Cinder's sake.

In one fluid motion, Emerald released herself from her perch, spun as she fell, and whipped the kusarigama through the air towards the right side of the line of Wardens she had dropped in on. It wrapped tight around the waist of nearest one, a middle aged looking man, and Emerald pulled him out of line and into the shadows.

He had time to let out a surprised scream, only to be silenced by Emerald's sickle opening up his throat. His life seeped onto the floor through his throat and she felt bile rising in her own. It had been a quick and relatively clean kill; it had to be. Any longer, and the man would have unleashed his Death Curse. Emerald had never seen one in action, but from what she had been told, she wouldn't want to. It was just a happy coincidence that killing them fast made this easier for her.

She repeated the action again, on a younger woman this time, who quickly joined the middle aged man on the ground. Emerald repeated it twice more, slowly whittling down the Wardens' numbers. Their focus on the Nevermore's had kept them from noticing their vanishing comrades, for the moment, but to be on the safe side, Emerald used her Semblance to make them see their comrades standing beside them unharmed. The details were easy enough. She wouldn't forget their faces anytime soon.

The illusions wouldn't hold forever, though, so Emerald quickly moved to her next target, a young man with a dark tan, handsome face, and thick black hair. Once more, she twisted, sending her kusarigama flying across the field towards his waist, while tightening her grip on the sickle in her offhand.

It wrapped tight around the youths waist, he looked down in surprise, and Emerald yanked. There was a flash of silver, and the weapon was ripped from Emeralds hands. She stumbled out of the shadow onto one knee and looked up in surprise.

The chain slid off the edge of Captain Luccio's silver broadsword, and landed in a heap on the floor. The woman glanced over her shoulder at Ramirez and said, "Thank you for acting as bait, Ramirez. Care to assist me in avenging our fallen comrades?"

After casually tugging the chain off his waist, Ramirez smirked and said, "I'd love to, ma'am."

Emerald grabbed the hilt of her kusarigama and retracted it into her sickle form. A straight up fight really wasn't in Emerald's favor, so she decided to tip the board to her advantage. After all, how could they fight what they couldn't see? The illusions of the fallen Wardens faded from their place in line, and Emerald imagined herself as invisible to Luccio and Ramirez. It was an easy trick she'd learned years ago, and as long as she covered her tracks, they'd never find her-

Luccio barked a word, and the wind grabbed Emerald from behind and thrust her towards them both. The Warden Captain crossed the distance in a flash, slashing once across Emeralds stomach, and following it up with a strike across the back. Her Aura protected her from the blade's bite, but her questionable choice in attire did little to protect her against the pain of having heavy steel smashing against her stomach and spine.

Emerald stumbled, throwing out her hands to either side to regain her balance. She stopped, trapped between Luccio and Ramirez, who could very clearly see her. A brief ray of sunlight pierced through the cloud cover, exposing a thick black paste under the eyes of Ramirez and Luccio, and if Emerald had to guess, under the eyes of every Warden.

She put two and two together and felt very, very scared. Like Pyrrha, the Wardens could see through her illusions. Unlike Pyrrha, their protection didn't freeze Emerald's mind just from attempting to touch it. She didn't dare reach out and try to apply a greater illusion though, for fear of their reprisal.

Ramirez pulled his own silver sword from a sheath at his side, and spun it with casual graze. "Sorry chica, but Pyrrha gave us a little heads up about your tricks, so we came prepared."

"I know not of the laws from your world," Luccio added,"but here, the murder of four Wardens, the abuse of Psychomancy, and the breaching of the Outer Gates are all punishable by death. I am sorry that it must come to this." Her tone was slow and grave, and it felt far older than her youthful face would have suggested.

A pit formed in Emerald's throat, and she collapsed her sickles in on themselves. Luccio glanced at Ramirez and the two exchanged a nod. They started toward Emerald, swords still at the ready. When both were within ten feet, Emerald's crimson eyes flashed, and she snapped both pistols up and fired. At that range, they would have had no way of dodging, and an entire clip of rounds would be enough to send any Huntsman into retreat before their Aura broke.

But Ramirez and Luccio did not even attempt to dodge. Blue energy blossomed around Luccio where the bullets harmlessly bounced off her shield, while a wall of water formed in front of Ramirez, shredding each bullet into harmless shrapnel that clattered to the floor.

"Shit." Emerald cursed.

Trapped between a rock and a hard place, escape seemed impossible for Emerald. She would have been right too, but fate shined on her that day. Across the tarmac, a familiar hiss filled the air, followed by a sharp pop. Fire erupted lanced through the air, leaving a swath of burning hot air in its wake. All three heads whipped towards the flame-train plowing towards them, and hit the deck.

The smothering heat only lasted for a few brief seconds, and when the roar of the flame died, Emerald jumped at her chance. She rolled to her feet, revolvers ready, sighted Ramirez, and opened fire. The young man had only just started clambering back to his feet, and whipped his head up at the gunshot. Emerald's shot slammed into the center of his chest, where it flattened against the kevlar vest he wore under his cloak, and knocked him flat on his ass.

Emerald pulled the trigger again, only to be met with a clicking sound. She looked at her gun in amazement. Out of rounds already!? She never ran out of rounds, reloading was second nature to her. Of all the times for this to happen, why now?

A strong hand clamped onto her shoulder, and Emerald reacted on instinct, spinning on her heel with a sickle extended. Captain Luccio grabbed Emeralds wrist with a strength she couldn't possibly possess naturally, released the girl's shoulder, twisted Emerald around, and slammed her palm against Emeralds elbow. Emerald shouted in pain, and kicked behind her, hitting the bottom of Luccio's chin and knocking the captain away.

She did not give Luccio time to recover, and attempted to rake her sickles across the woman's ribs. Years of experience saved Luccio, she raised her sword in time for a hasty parry. Sparks exploded between them, and the two women stumbled away from one another. Emerald quickly found her feet and glanced between Ramirez and Luccio. Neither looked winded from their brief scuffle, and they were better fighters than Emerald had expected. Without her Semblance, the fight wouldn't end in her favor. It was time to fall back and figure out a new plan of attack, which Mercury wouldn't like, but he could deal with it. Emerald tightened her grip on her sickles and prepared to dart off into the shadows.

A bloodcurdling scream filled the air, an almost inhuman noise of immeasurable pain that pulled all eyes back towards the ring of fire. Emerald felt her stomach drop, because she'd heard this sound before at Beacon once before.

"Cinder!"

All thoughts of battle immediately left Emeralds mind; Cinder was in trouble, something went wrong, she had to help. Emerald started toward the ring of fire, but didn't make it more than a few feet before Ramirez and Luccio came at her again.

Emerald blocked an overhead strike from Ramirez between the crossed blades of her sickles and snarled, "Out of my way!"

She kicked him in the chest and shoved him away, and then spun and slammed her foot into Luccio's side. Emerald might as well have hit a tree for all the impact it had on the woman, who grabbed Emerald by the ankle, and heaved. Her entire perspective was flipped upside down before her face met the ground with a heavy smack and a flash of pain in her nose. She grasped at her face and let out a frustrated scream.

"I don't have time for this!" she raged, before kicking Luccio's legs out from under her.

Without sparing Luccio a second thought, Emerald popped back to her feet, and flung her kusarigama at the nearest high ledge she could find. In this case, a jetliner abandoned during the evacuation. The sharpened edge bit into the soft metal, and the chain immediately grew taught, dragging Emerald through the air and onto the wing of the plane, giving her an excellent vantage point over Cinder's miniature hellscape.

Emerald swung her gaze over the makeshift arena as fast as she could, trying to find Cinder and Pyrrha, so she could put a bullet in the back of the latter. Despite the smoke and flames, Emerald did spot the two, through a haze of ash. Emerald couldn't make sense of what she was seeing though. At best, it appeared that someone was battling a living breathing ball of red-hot fire. That had to be Cinder, but Emerald had never seen her do that befo-

Her train of thought was derailed when one of the two battling warriors was suddenly sent careening through the air right towards Emeralds perch. The green-haired girl wasted no time jumping to the side, the spot where she was being ripped to shreds by the unidentified flying person. The plane's hull exploded and buckled, and fire spewed from the impact radius.

"Oh no," Emerald turned, and leapt off the plane's wing as an explosion suddenly rippled along its seems. A burning invisible force slammed into her back, knocking Emerald into the tarmac where the ground shattered under her sudden impact.

Laying in her crater, Emerald was vaguely aware of fiery debris raining around her, and as her vision cleared, she saw a figure standing at the mouth of the crater. At first she thought it was Cinder, and her heart filled with hope. But as her vision cleared, Emerald realized it was not Cinder, but Luccio once more, her sword gleaming in the pale fires of the explosion.

The entire world felt sluggish to Emerald, every movement felt like it was moving through syrup, and the world around her moved at half that speed. It gave her plenty of time to see Luccio grip her sword in both hands and raise it overhead. A part of Emerald was aware of the fact that in her current state, one good swing would break what was left of her Aura, and she'd be at the Warden's mercy.

That was embarrassing, but life had never been fair to her before. Why start now?

Luccio's sword reached its apex, a shimmering reflection of death in her hands, and then… The Captain of the Wardens froze. Her grip went slack. Her sword clattered to the floor. She fell to her knees, and cradled the stump where her left arm used to be.

Neopolitan appeared next to Luccio with a very proud smirk on her face, and then looked down at Emerald with an amused expression. Emerald ground her teeth and forced herself to her feet, fixing Neo with a glare the whole time.

"You couldn't have jumped in earlier?" she growled.

Neo fluttered her eyes innocently at Emerald and looked down at Luccio. Despite having lost an arm, the Captain of the Wardens had already worked on staunching the bleeding. She was gripping the stump and murmuring something under her breath, a spell of some kind. Her face was pale, she was breathing heavily, and looked about ready to die, but by some miracle, she was still alive and conscious.

Not for long though, if Neo and Emerald had anything to say about it. The short little woman grinned wickedly and flicked the fresh blood off her saber before slowly approaching Luccio. The Captain glared defiantly at Neo, even as she pressed the tip of her sword against Luccio's chest.

The first bullet whizzed by so close to Neo's head that it took several hairs with it. The second sparked against the tarmac, and the third slammed into her shoulder. Neo jumped away from Luccio and looked up at the new attacker.

Harry Dresden strode toward the two with his still smoking revolver in one hand and his staff in the other, radiating a biting cold that froze the ground he walked on. Behind him, twenty Wardens followed his lead, along with the entirety of Marcone's forces. Harry emptied the rest of his revolver in Neo's direction, and raised his staff when it clicked empty. Neo dodged the bullets with ease, and used her parasol to deflect any she missed, and waved it over herself and Emerald.

" _Infriga!"_

A dozen razor blades of ice whizzed through the air and impaled Neo and Emerald through their chests and legs, killing blows. A moment later, both girls shattered like glass onto the tarmac.

Harry barely wasted a curse on their timely escape, rushing to Luccio's side. Ramirez and another Warden had beaten him to her, tending to her injuries. Harry's blood ran cold at the sight of her injury.

"Stars and stones…" He murmured.

Luccio wore a pained smile on her face, and glanced at the stump of her arm, "Well… I've suffered worse…"

That was a very dark truth, but didn't negate the damage Neo had done. Luccio had been crippled on the magical front by the loss of her original body years ago, and if she lost her arm, her career as a Warden would be over. Best case scenario, she'd be forced into desk work, worst case, she'd retire.

The thought must've occurred to Ramirez too. He shared a look with Luccio and she grunted. "You're in command now, Warden Ramirez…. What are your orders?"

The fact that Luccio was giving command to Ramirez instead of Harry surprised him, but only a little. Even though Ramirez was younger than Harry, he had been a Warden longer than him by several years and had fought for a much longer time in the war between the White Council and the Red Court Vampires. He was a well known and respected figure to many of the younger Wardens and though the older members of the Council saw him as a younger version of Harry, they did not deny that he was a man who got results.

Ramirez nodded and looked at the nearest Wardens. "Gather up any of our wounded and get them out of here. Take the captain back to Edinburgh, have Wizard Listens-To-Wind look after her."

The two Wardens hesitated for a moment. Ramirez's voice grew dark and he said, "If you sit here wasting time, the captain loses an arm. Move, that's an order!"

His words forced them into action, and they did as he said, careful as they gathered up their fallen captain and her amputated limb. Luccio lost consciousness before they finished, but they made sure that her bleeding had stopped. If they got to Edinburgh in time, she'd survive. That was what Harry told himself anyway.

He reached down to Ramirez, and said, "You think you're up for command?"

"We'll find out." Ramirez replied, clasping Harry's hand.

Harry pulled him to his feet, and stepped aside, letting Ramirez get a good look at his remaining Wardens. For a moment, only the sound of burning fire and the distant thunder of combat was the only sound. Overhead, the sky darkened, a harbinger of yet another storm to come, though whether it was a natural occurrence was a matter for debate. It was far too appropriate though.

Finally, Ramirez spoke, loud enough for his voice to carry to all the assembled Wardens. "Alright, amigos! We've got a wall of fire between us and the bitch guarding the portal to Hell. I say it's high time we tore it down and showed these off-worlders who they're messing with!"

A dozen swords went up into the air, accompanied by the warcry of twenty plus pissed off wizards hungry for blood. They were quickly joined by the Einherjar, whose combined roar shook Harry to his bones. He leaned on his staff facing the fire and couldn't help but chuckle as the Wardens lined up alongside him.

He glanced to his right and saw Ramirez, and glanced left to see Marcone standing with his arms folded behind his back. The crime boss was untouched by the skirmishes that had disrupted their forces, and almost seemed bored to the casual viewer. But Harry could see he was far from bored. His faded green eyes were alive with movement, flicking across the tarmac and taking in a thousand details at once.

"Looking to see if your smuggling jet made it out okay?" Harry deadpanned.

Marcone didn't spare Harry a glance. "Please, I have a private airport for that. No, Dresden, I'm looking for your companion, the child."

Harry swallowed and looked at the fire, "Right. You see anything?"

"While you were busy, I saw her several times. She's been keeping our attacker at bay for quite sometime; it's been most impressive. But… this silence does not bode well for her. Or us."

Tightening his grip on his staff, Harry stood straighter and said, "Well, it's about to get a lot louder now."

The edge of Marcones lips twitched upward. "I'd expect nothing less from you, Mr. Dresden."

Harry turned back to the wall of fire, its heat almost blistering, even from thirty feet away. It had kept the portal and Cinder safe from them for most of the battle, but no wall was impenetrable. It was time for the Wardens to pull off their own magical interpretation of Jericho.

He felt the flow of magic as the Wardens began drawing it in, preparing for a spell powerful enough to banish the flames. To do so would require immense strength and concentration from a single wizard, but with the Wardens-

A screech of steel derailed Harry's train of thought. He whirled towards the source of the noise in time to see the jetliner that had detonated earlier, exploding into shrapnel. Panels peeled off like the snake of a skin, slicing through the air and whirling over the wall of fire. Its still-burning frame groaned in protest for a moment, before twisting and tearing itself into long pieces of aluminum steel that joined the vortex that quickly vanished behind smoke and fire.

The flow of magic stopped for a moment, everyone trying to register what they had just seen. Then, the ground trembled violently. Then it shook a second time. Then a third time. A sharp whistle filled the air, followed by a fresh roar of fire. Even though the smoke, the explosion was clear, before something smothered it. The silence returned.

Harry exchanged a look with Ramirez. "What was that-"

Someone had set off a bomb, there was no other explanation for the sudden wave of force that ripped through the airport. Instinct saved the Wardens and Marcone's forces, a shield wall materializing again and reflecting the force and smoke over their small army. It cleared very quickly to reveal that the wall of fire had been extinguished. The entire face of the airport had been turned into a smoking crater. Scorch marks and the burning wreckage of dozens airport vehicles and jets lay scattered in the arena, and one of the terminals was reduced to rubble.

Emerald, Neo, and Mercury stood at the forefront of it all, the former and latter clearly as shocked as Harry and the Wardens. At the center of it all though, Cinder and Pyrrha were plain as day, still locked in their struggle.

And Cinder was winning.

* * *

Minutes earlier, Pyrrha had been painfully reminded just how far out of her league Cinder truly was. No amount of skill could close the gap between the two, Cinder was simply in another league, and had forced Pyrrha onto the defensive the moment their fight had resumed. Every time Pyrrha tried to exploit an opening in Cinder's defense, the woman either shrugged off the blow or deflected it with contemptuous ease.

Becoming the Fall Maiden had done more than give Cinder a power boost, it had turned her into a force of nature. No individual, no matter how skilled, could stand against the forces of nature. Pyrrha had to retreat to Harry and the others, but Cinder had made sure to cut off any hope of escape.

Even as they fought, the blistering heat from the wall of fire burned Pyrrha's lungs with every breath and slowly sapped her stamina. If Cinder had wanted to, she could have overwhelmed and killed Pyrrha long ago, but she was taking far too much pleasure in whittling Pyrrha down inch by inch, until her will to fight came crashing down like it had the first time.

It started with a kick against Pyrrha's shield, staggering her backwards. Cinder flicked her obsidian blade in a diagonal slash across Pyrrha's chest, but a last minute deflection sent sparks showering off the hilt of her spear. Cinder followed with a vicious uppercut to Pyrrha's jaw with her blackened fist. Stars exploded in her eyes, and Pyrrha felt her feet leave the ground as she was lifted skyward from the force of the blow. She stumbled on landing, crashed into the side of an airport luggage trolley, and sagged against it.

Her jaw throbbed and her vision was a mess of bright colors and blurry shapes, including a hazy red figure rushing towards her. Pyrrha brought her shield up, and a train crashed into it. The air shuddered, and the trolley behind her rocked back. Pyrrha sluggishly raised Miló, now in sword form, only for Cinder to wrap her fingers around the blade and wrench it to the side.

Pyrrha held tight, refusing to be so easily disarmed. Her vision slowly came back into focus, giving her a sharp view of Cinder inches from her face, a self assured smirk on her scarred face. The woman had one hand on the rim of Pyrrha's shield and the other wrapped tightly around the blade of her sword, and was forcing Pyrrha back.

She recoiled at the sight, but was trapped by the trolley behind her. Cinder's smirk grew wider, and she pushed harder. Miló's edge grew closer to Pyrrha's throat, even as she leaned away from it. Cinder's hand radiated fire, slowly warming the steel of her blade and causing a fresh wave of sweat to break out across Pyrrha's face. Cinder had done this before, their first fight where she had disarmed her in the same method.

Somehow, Pyrrha had to stop her, but was at a loss for how. There was no real way to hurt Cinder, she was beyond Pyrrha's abilities…

A crack, deep and heavy like that of a glacier, filled the air, and Cinder's smirk vanished, replaced with a wide-eyed look of shock. Their eyes slowly moved to Miló, the source of the glacial snap. A thin layer of ice covered the blade, and a dozen snow-white runes glowed along its edge, raining tiny snow to the ground below. Wherever Cinder's hand touched the blade, the ice had spread to, slowly encasing her flesh in ice.

Cinder's grip jerked away from Miló, revealing dozens of burns along the palm of her hand, and she did something unexpected. She tilted her head back and howled in agony, a true biting pain. Pyrrha was so dumbfounded by this, that she forgot to _act_ on Cinder's vulnerability, until it was too late.

Her agonized screams quickly turned into a snarl of fury, and Cinder backhanded Pyrrha into the trolley. Both girl and truck went skidding across the tarmac, and Miló slipped from Pyrrha's grasp and embedded itself in the ground. The trolley crashed to a stop, and Pyrrha slumped forward. Her body was dazed, but her mind was moving at a million miles a minute.

After getting her memories back, she had realized that the sword and shield she'd received couldn't possibly be the originals she'd had on Remnant. Events at the time had prevented her from thinking on it. Now it seemed that she should have thought on it more; if she had known the new Miló could do that, this fight would have been very different. It could still be different. The deck was no longer stacked solely in the false Maiden's favor now. Pyrrha had a weapon that could harm her; she just needed to get it back.

Without hesitation, Pyrrha reached out with her Semblance and called her sword to her. The crimson blade flew off the ground towards Pyrrha by the hilt toward her outstretched arm… Only for Cinder to intercept it with her good hand, halting its ascent. Cinder's smirk returned as she turned toward Pyrrha and raised her burned hand toward her. Her eye lit up with power, and a high pitched whistling sound filled the air, followed by a hollow _'Boom!'_.

Pyrrha raised Akoúo̱ and braced for the train of fire to crash into her. It slammed into her hard enough to jar her arm, but she held her shield steady and found herself puzzled. The fire rolled over and around her, reducing the trolley behind her to molten slag. That kind of heat should have been unbearable, it should have fried her. But instead all Pyrrha felt was a cool breeze surrounding her, one that felt very familiar to what she had felt when the enchantment on her tiara had been activated by Emerald.

The fire slowly died down and Pyrrha dropped her shield to survey the damage. To her left, a neat line of molten steel and concrete ran down the center of the airport. To her right, a line of fire still raged past the wall and into the fighting that was occurring amongst the Wardens and the Grimm. Pyrrha looked forward at a very frustrated looking Cinder, striding through the flames of her own attack without a care in the world.

Cinder slammed her fist into Akoúo̱, sending chips of ice raining across the tarmac and knocking Pyrrha back again, then following it with a backhand that sent her sprawling. Pyrrha rolled to her feet, shield raised, and deflected another fireball. Cinder came sprinting through the fire and grabbed the edge of her shield and ripped it to the side, then slammed her open palm against Pyrrha's chest.

Metal groaned and Pyrrha flew back again, but managed to stay standing and skid to a slow stop, before falling to one knee. She was really getting tired of Cinder tossing her around. In general, Pyrrha was just tired of Cinder. Her smugness, her blatant hunger for power and callous disregard for others, Pyrrha was tired of all of it.

Cinder strode up to Pyrrha, fist clenched tight, and stood over the young woman. Pyrrha remained still, and a smirk crossed Cinder's face. It was time to end this. She pulled her fist back, and threw a straight punch that would bring an end to their charade.

There was a heavy smack, the air shivered, and Cinder's smirk evaporated. Pyrrha tightened her hand around Cinders fist and looked up at her. Cinder tried to pull her fist back, only to find Pyrrha's grip was like iron.

"I'm sorry," Pyrrha said, slowly, "But you've had your turn. Now it's mine."

Cinder sneered and slashed at Pyrrha with Miló. The redhead's hand whipped forward faster than Cinder could see, and stopped the blow in its tracks with the same level of unmoving restraint. Then, Pyrrha began to squeeze and stood up. Cinders sneer twisted into an expression of pain as Pyrrha slowly crushed her hands in her grip.

Pyrrha rose until she and Cinder stood eye to eye, and began twisting Cinders arms back with effortless ease. Cinder let out a wordless cry of pain and her knee buckled and she looked up helplessly at Pyrrha. It was there she saw it, in Pyrrha's eyes, what had given her this sudden strength. A fire had been awoken within her, something far more powerful than even the might of the Fall Maiden. Even as Cinder came to that realization, she saw Pyrrha subtly changing before her eyes.

A faint glow, a crimson aura, began to emanate from the girl, rolling off her like an all consuming flame. Her Aura, that was what it had to be. Very rarely one would see the manifestation of an Aura, in projections of shields or when it shattered. But Cinder could feel it, this was no shield, this was raw power, a power to match her own.

Her grip on Miló went slack and the sword clattered to the ground. The moment it hit the tarmac, Pyrrha placed her foot on Cinders chest and shoved. One moment, Cinder was a foot from Pyrrha's face, the next, she found herself propelled across the tarmac until she crashed into the ground, leaving a shallow furrow in her wake.

Pyrrha scooped Miló off the ground, and was after Cinder in seconds, crossing the distance between them in three bounding leaps. On the last, Pyrrha leapt into the air and came crashing down on Cinder.

Cinder rolled to the side, materialized her sword, and slashed across Pyrrha's shield. Pyrrha slid under the blow, popped up, and kicked Cinder across the back. She followed with a thrust between the ribs, and a slam into her face with her shield. Cinder stumbled, lashing out blindly with her blade. Pyrrha met it with her own, and the weight in Cinder's hand vanished. She saw her blade go sailing through the air into the ground a moment later.

The fire that surrounded Pyrrha exploded, and the red head slammed her shield into Cinder again, and twisted on her heel to slash across across her chest once. Miló shifted to its spear form, and Pyrrha quickly stabbed under Cinder's jaw, then whirled and smashed the butt of the spear into throat.

Cinder gasped, leaped back a dozen feet to distance herself from Pyrrha, and summoned a slender long bow of obsidian to one hand, while a dozen arrows materialized in her offhand. She nocked them to the bow, and released the swarm of razor-sharp arrows.

Pyrrha was a literal blur of red and grey, weaving between arrows with effortless ease. Those she did not dodge, she shattered with her shield, or deflected with her sword. She came out of the barrage unscathed, and landed crouched behind Cinder.

Cinder whirled around in surprise to face Pyrrha, and flung a ball of fire towards her on instinct. With a simple pirouette, Pyrrha knocked it aside with her shield, and came down in a crouched firing position, Miló resting in the concave hollow of her shield in rifle form. Pyrrha loosed a salvo of three bullets, each one shining a strange red under the influence of her Aura.

The first missed, Cinder managed to deflect the second, and the third skimmed the side of her head. A dozen dark hairs came off in the wake of the shot, but Cinder barely had time to register what happened. Pyrrha was already back on the offensive.

Cinder dodged to the left as Pyrrha came down with a quick thrust of her spear, the point sinking into the ground, followed by sweeping her legs out from under her. Down she went, barely catching herself on her hands, and pushing herself into the air so she could land on her feet.

A new sword formed in her hand, and Cinder used the flat of her blade to deflect Pyrrha's. Cinder kicked Pyrrha in the stomach, grabbed her by the ponytail while she was staggered, and twisted. Pyrrha careened across the tarmac, crashing onto the ground face first and rolling to her feet.

In a flash, Cinder closed the gap and hit Pyrrha as hard as she could. The air crackled, the ground shook, and Pyrrha's head whipped back in time with a single step backward. Then, she stepped forward again and slowly rolled her head forward. All that marred her face was the scowl she wore.

Cinder gulped and stepped back. Pyrrha stepped forward, and slammed her foot onto Cinder's, pinning her in place. Cinder let out a silent yell, and tried to throw a bolt of fire in Pyrrha's face. Pyrrha raised her arm, deflecting the blow, and sending the fire screaming into the air.

Immediately, her hand shot forward, wrapping tight around Cinders throat and making her gasp for air. Pyrrha hefted her into the air, the burning red fire of her aura growing more intense with each passing second. The look in her eyes was one of contempt, one of fury, and something else: Naked hatred.

It was at that exact moment that Cinder knew that she had made a terrible mistake.

The world became a blur, something hard hit Cinder's back. She realized it was the ground and that Pyrrha had planted her into it with the force of a jackhammer. Cinder bounced up once, free in the air. Pyrrha grabbed her leg as she rose up, and twisted, sending Cinder skipping back across the airport and through the wall of flame she had created.

She met the fuselage of a parked jetliner a moment later, and it crumpled under her impact. Fire quickly erupted from the hole she'd crashed through, and an explosion ripped through the plane. A single figure shot up from smoke and flame, Cinder floating on a pillar of flame, her one eye filled with a hideous rage.

Pyrrha let her shoulders slump, and she took in a deep breath. When this power had shown itself, fire had rushed through her veins. She'd felt it before, during her brief fight with Torchwick, her battle against Dresden, bringing the steel mill down on Emerald and Mercury, and when she had ensnared the Nevermore with the piping beneath the street. Those had all been brief gouts of fire that had pushed Pyrrha past her limits. But much like real fire, it was beginning to burn her from within.

A lead weight had begun pressing on her chest, making each breath she took more labored than the last. Pyrrha could still feel the tingling energy flowing through her, but she had reached her peak, and she wouldn't have much time left before it left her. In order to win this, Pyrrha was going to have to fight smarter, not harder, which meant she couldn't defeat Cinder traditionally, as much as she desperately wanted to.

Cinder descended to the ground and sneered at Pyrrha between exhausted breaths, but she didn't attack. The last few minutes had made her more than a bit gun shy about charging in again. The two warriors, one wreathed in smoke, the other in a brilliant crimson glow, made no move towards each other. Even from across the tarmac, she could hear dry the labored breathing from Cinder.

That was it, that was how she would beat Cinder!

Pyrrha took one step back, never taking her eyes off Cinder…

Then she turned and ran for the airport, disappearing through a cloud of smoke. The act was so sudden that Cinder was frozen with surprise for a moment, before her anger returned and she launched herself after Pyrrha. It didn't take long for Pyrrha to reach the base of the airport, and she reached the nearest garage. She didn't dare approach the portal after what happened last time, and instead, thrust her Semblance into the garage, searching for the tools she'd need.

Cinder barreled through the smoke, and slowed to a stop, scanning from left to right for signs of Pyrrha. But the redhead had mysteriously vanished, no sign of her. Cinder frowned and looked skyward. Her eye widened.

Pyrrha floated in the air. The many plates of titanium steel under her armor served as an excellent harness for short range flight. Cinder smirked, and a pillar of smoke lifted her into the air until she jerked to a stop. She blinked once, then tried to rise again, only to be met with the same result.

Cinder looked down at her leg, where a steel chain had wrapped itself tightly around her ankle like a snake. She looked up once at Pyrrha, and felt the chain pull. Cinder landed on her feet, shattering the ground with her impact, and whipped her head skyward. Pyrrha slashed Miló across her face, and rolled across the ground.

There was no pause in what she did next. Pyrrha grabbed the chain off the floor, now looped into a makeshift lasso, and flung it around Cinders chest. The links tightened under a will of their own, crushing Cinder's arms against her body. Pyrrha heaved Cinder through the air and into the wall, and willed the chain to wrap itself around her arms and legs, temporarily immobilizing Cinder. But she didn't stop there. Pyrrha dove into the depths of her new power, dragging it to the surface with a final effort. Her body burned with unspent energy, pushing against her skin for a release.

It found it, in the jetliner that Cinder had destroyed.

Ripping it apart came easy to Pyrrha. She had disassembled a dozen weapons to practice the finesse she needed to control her Semblance. With her boosted power, applying it in large scale to the jetliner was no challenge. She didn't waste time carefully taking it apart though, instead wrenching it apart into its individual pieces and dragging them across the tarmac.

By this point, Cinder had already melted her chains and fallen to the floor, but only in time to see a hailstorm of steel flying towards her. She rolled to her left as what was once a wing embedded itself into the wall, then dodged back when the other wing crashed into her left. A large platform of steel came down like a boot towards her.

Cinder unleashed a geyser of flame to stop it. Fire rolled alongs its edge and fell back to earth in gouts of molten steel. Around her, the wings began to burn red-hot before small explosions rippled through them, but it wasn't enough to melt the metal.

The platform stopped a few feet above Cinder's head, still intact. That confused her, and Cinder looked ahead, past the roaring flames, just in time to see Pyrrha seal the only exit out of the new makeshift steel oven she'd built around Cinder. Her enemy had kindly provided the fire she needed, and Pyrrha had made sure to seal the new prison tight.

That was it though, Pyrrha was spent. She fell to one knee, and the glow that surrounded her faded. Her limbs felt numb and unresponsive, burned from the inside out. There was no fight left, but hopefully she wouldn't need to anymore.

Inside the oven, she could hear the heavy pounding of Cinder's fists against the steel walls, and the hiss of fire as it grew more intense. Small trickles of smoke began to seep from within, and slowly, the intensity of her blows began to grow weaker.

While Cinder may have possessed the power of a god, she was still mortal at her core, and still depended on the most basic fundamental forces to keep herself alive. It was more than a little ironic then, that her own power would sap the oxygen from the oven until Cinder lost consciousness. Pyrrha knew she couldn't have beaten Cinder through mere force of arms; her stamina was too great, but if she took that away…

One final blow shook the walls of the prison, and then the only sound Pyrrha heard was that of the crackling fire…

Then, the prison exploded, and the world spun out of control.

* * *

In the present time, Pyrrha could see her mistake now. As prepared as she had been, she was far from ready to fight Cinder again. If she had known what she could do from the beginning, perhaps their fight would have gone differently. But days full of combat and emotional turmoil, and their intense struggle at the beginning of their battle had left Pyrrha tired and her power boost had simply been too little, too late. All she'd managed to accomplish was pissing Cinder off.

The False Maiden had gone on the offensive the moment she broke free of the prison that Pyrrha had trapped her in, and was pushing her back with every slash of her obsidian blade. All Pyrrha could do was block her blows and stumble backwards while Cinder pressed her advantage ever harder.

In some part of her mind, Pyrrha became aware that they were moving closer and closer to where the wall of fire had once been. Cinder's explosive exit had extinguished it, which meant that Harry and the others could reach her, if she could hold out for just a minute longer…

Pyrrha took a quick step back, letting Cinder's blade whistle through the air, then stabbed with Miló in spear form. Cinders free hand grabbed the spear by the hilt, and with one strong heave, ripped it from Pyrrha's grasp and tossed it aside. Pyrrha tried to catch it with her Semblance, but the act sent a pulse of pain through her entire body and she recoiled.

Cinder grabbed the edge of her shield, halting Pyrrha mid-step, and thrust her sword forward. There was a sharp crack, like the snapping of glass, then an icy pain rolled through Pyrrha's midsection. A smile spread over Cinder's lips as Pyrrha looked down at the blade embedded in her stomach. Red energy crackled around the hilt of the blade, what was left of her Aura as it finally gave way under the stress.

"Good...bye…" Cinder hissed through clenched teeth, then placed her hand against Pyrrha's chest and shoved her toward the crowd of Wardens that had gathered.

Pyrrha stumbled and her legs collapsed. She'd have fallen, if a pair of strong arms hadn't caught her at the last moment. "Easy, I've got you." Harry said, even as he began to lower her to the ground.

The pain in her abdomen flared again and Pyrrha winced, "H-Harry, I…"

"Shh," he shushed. "Save your strength, we've got to patch that hole up now."

Pyrrha looked down at her stomach again. It looked like a thin cut, but she that the injury went all the way through her, and she could feel the sticky blood pooling around her back. Cinder's blade had slipped through the plates of her armor with deceptive ease, but if she hadn't been wearing it, Cinder might have just stabbed her through the heart again.

"Out of the way, Dresden." a familiar voice ordered. Pyrrha glanced up to see Marcone standing over them, with Hendricks on his right and Gard on his left. Gard was covered in bruises and bloody scars, and her left eye was swollen shut. Still, she wore a very content expression on her face that was a bit at odds with how Pyrrha felt.

Harry's lips formed a thin line as he looked from Pyrrha to Marcone and asked, "Can you help her?"

"Of course. We'll do all we can." Marcone sounded completely sincere, which was odd to Pyrrha. She barely knew the man and he and Dresden didn't seem like friends.

Harry let out a sigh, "Alright, but if anything happens to her…"

"It won't."

"Right." Harry started to stand, but Pyrrha caught his arm at the last moment.

He looked back at her and Pyrrha said, "I'm… sorry Harry. I ruined the plan."

That made Harry smile, "You didn't ruin anything Pyrrha. Plan's still on track. You just focus on not dying."

He was too confident, what did Harry know that she didn't? Pyrrha didn't say anything, she just trusted his judgement and gave a nod. "Okay…"

Harry stood up and let Marcone's people get to work on peeling Pyrrha out of her armor and treating her injury. Pyrrha was tough and he had a feeling she would come out of this fine, even if she was out of commission for the rest of the fight. Which meant it was time to confront the mastermind of this whole situation.

Striding forward while projecting an aura of confidence, Harry had a minor internal mental freakout. Pyrrha's fight had been present throughout the entire skirmish, something he'd been aware of but unable to act on thanks to Cinder. Seeing her injured scared him, and pissed him off, but he knew how to keep both in check. He would stay calm

So even though Harry was more than a little terrified to approach Cinder, he did it anyway. This was his harebrained scheme, he'd see it through to the end.

He stopped twenty feet from Cinder and her gang. Cinder was unharmed, while Emerald looked roughed up. Neo sported no visible wounds or even scuff marks, while Mercury… Parts of his armor were missing, his body was covered in lacerations, and he was desperately trying to flatten his hair, which was standing on end. Gard had certainly given him a run for his money before he ran off.

But he was not important, and neither were the other cronies. Harry kept his gaze focused on Cinder, who returned it with smug confidence.

"So…" Harry started. "Who talks first? You talk first, I talk first?"

Cinder frowned.

"See, it's just hard to understand you with all that bitch on your face," Harry explained.

Cinder raised a hand, and Emerald was immediately by her side, leaning over so Cinder could whisper into her ear. Once she was finished, Emerald straightened up and said, "If you all surrender now, Cinder promises to make your deaths painless."

Harry looked down and tapped his staff against the ground, "Tempting offer, you really know how to butter someone up Cinder. But I've got a counter offer."

He looked back up with her and slammed his staff down. A low boom filled the air, punctuating Harry's next words. "Leave. Go home. I don't know what Cowl promised you, but you won't find it here."

Mercury rolled his eyes, "Is this guy serious?"

"Of course I'm serious!" With a little magical assistance, Harry's voice boomed like a loudspeaker.

Emerald flinched, and Cinder's frown grew deeper.

"You're just kids." Harry said, letting his tone fall. "You're kids in way over your heads. We aren't some school that knows nothing about you. We knew you were coming, and we know how to fight. You might not realize it, but the four of you are getting ready to fire the opening salvo's of a war you won't win. I've seen war, I've fought in war before, all of us have. And even if you somehow beat us here, there are people and things on this planet that won't like having you step on their toes. You won't last a week here before you piss off some god who wipes you off the face of existence. So I'm asking, pleading with you, to just go home and forget about all of this. No one else needs to die today."

He didn't think his words would have an impact on Cinder, but he hadn't expected them to. While Harry wanted these four to realize how stupid this all was, he also wanted to buy time. Just a few more minutes, then they could spring their plan.

At the very least, Cinder seemed to pause at his words, which was good. Harry started to look past her at the airport behind her, shrouded in smoke… when something caught his eye. Against the smoky backdrop, it stood out like a sore thumb. It was small and bright red. It took Harry a moment to realize what it was, and that confused him even more.

It was a rose petal…

"You have a way with words," Emerald translated, dragging Harry's attention back to them. "But you're bluff is just that. Cinder is going to end this now."

At the last of her words, Cinder materialized an obsidian bow in her hands and fired a single arrow high into the air. Harry watched it soar, trailing fire and ash in its wake, and immediately raised his shield. The Wardens behind him did the same as the arrow began to peak and fall back to earth.

It never made it.

The crack of a sniper rifle echoed across the tarmac, and the arrow shattered, unleashing its hidden power. A ball of fire erupted in the air, blinding Harry. He staggered, shield still raised, and rubbed at his eyes until his vision slowly returned.

"What the hell was that?" he grumbled, even as he saw the answer.

She jumped down from her perch atop the air top terminal on their far right, trailing a rose-red cloak as she landed amongst three other faces Harry had seen once before.

Pyrrha let out a surprised gasp from where she sat. "Jaune!?"

"Pyrrha!" team RNJR crossed the distance in seconds towards their teammate. Nora, Ren, and Jaune, the entirety of her team on Earth. Pyrrha wasn't sure how they got there, but really couldn't care less. She smiled as they approached, only for them to be stopped by Hendricks.

"That's close enough." He said. "Operation in progress. Don't interrupt."

Nora glowered up at the giant man, and reached for the silver weapon slung on her back. Ren grabbed her arm and gave her a firm look. She sighed and released it, instead looking around the giant of a man with the others.

Most of Pyrrha's armor from the waist up had been stripped off, and now Gard was busy expertly treating the wound in her side while Marcone assisted. Pyrrha winced at the pain, but didn't let her smile fade. This was certainly an unexpected surprise.

"What happened?"

Pyrrha sighed, "Cinder. I… I'll explain later."

While they tried to talk with Pyrrha through Hendricks, the girl in the red hood, Ruby, that was her name, stopped near Harry and glared at Cinder under her hood with bright silver eyes.

"Where… Who… How!?" Emerald demanded, summing up the stunned expression on Cinders face.

Harry scratched at his head, "Yeah, not gonna lie, I'm as lost as you guys are."

Ruby pulled back her hood and smiled up at Harry, "We got a message from your friend, she said you might need help."

"She…?" Harry wondered, then the wheels clicked.

Thunder boomed overhead, and a lone bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of Harry. When the dust cleared, Molly Carpenter stood in the glassy crater, clad in full Fae battle armor and wearing a cocky grin on her face.

"I figured we could do with some extra firepower." she said. Her smile faded at the questioning on Harry's face and she added, "I'll… explain when this is done."

"Looking forward to it." Harry grumbled. Despite being Fae, or maybe because of it, Harry had a feeling that Molly was keeping far more information from him than he liked. But for now, the focus was Cinder, he could read his former apprentice the riot act later.

Molly folded her arms and turned back to Cinder. The woman's one eye hadn't left Ruby since she had arrived, and she almost looked like she was… trembling? No, that couldn't be right, it had to be the heat from the fires messing with the air.

Molly coughed into her hand, and Cinder's eye swiveled toward her. "T'sup, bitch. Name's Molly, Lady of the Winter Court, former apprentice of Harry Dresden, and the Wrecker of Your Shit. I'm pretty sure Harry already gave you the 'leave now' speech, so I'll just simplify it."

She cleared her throat and said, "Get the fuck off my planet, or I'm kicking your one eyed ass back to Remnant whether you like it or not."

Cinder narrowed her one eye, spared one more glance at Ruby, then let out a frustrated sigh. With a snap of her fingers, the smoke that had flanked her team was blown away by a gentle breeze, revealing a fresh horde of Grimm behind them. Beowolves, Creeps, Ursa of varying shapes and sizes filled the majority of the ranks, along with the new Terror Birds that had attacked Harry at his apartment. There were more mixed behind the ranks, but Harry couldn't make them all out.

Molly looked at the army of Grimm and yawned, "Is that all you've got? Puh-lease."

She clapped her hands together three times, and the air shimmered. Harry's jaw dropped as he watched Molly's near-perfect veil drop to reveal one hundred Fae warriors, flanking the Grim horde on the left and right. He could even see a few armored trolls mixed in amongst their ranks. Molly had said she could get a few warriors to join her.

Given the size of Winter's army, this is what Harry should have expected when she said 'a few'.

Molly folded her arms and smirked at Cinder, "Your move, bitch"

* * *

 **A/N: FINALLY! After weeks of labor, this chapter is done! If I had expected it to be this long, I never would have made that promise to begin with. That said, I have started on chapter 37 and I'm hoping to have it finished sometime next week. My goal is to buckle down and finish the climax before Mass Effect Andromeda is released, because no writing is getting done.**

 **Anyway, you guys let me know what you thought of this beast of a chapter, make sure to review with critique and PM me with questions. Until next time, Ciao!**


	38. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

The tarmac was silent for a solid minute, everyone still as statues, their eyes locked on Cinder and Molly. The former had ignored the entirety of Molly's boasts and the arrival of the Fae army, and had locked her eye not on the Winter Lady, but on the red-cloaked girl that stood beside Harry. Cinder's gaze was intense but unreadable. Ruby returned her gaze with a glare of her own, the anger in her silver eyes practically glowing. The Grimm were a restless wave of black that was slowly growing more anxious by the second; it would not take much to push them over the edge.

The army of Fae, as a counterpoint, were calm and unaffected by the horde of bestial nightmares. They remained in formation and patiently awaited the command of their Winter Lady. Who had grown annoyed by Cinder's complete lack of attention.

Molly folded her arms and cleared her throat. Cinder's eye swiveled from Ruby to Molly, noticing her for the first time. Molly frowned and said, "Well, what's it gonna be? Run while you're ahead, or stay and take what's coming to you. Your choice, Cinder."

She stared at Molly as though she had grown a second head. Perhaps the idea of mercy was a foreign concept to her, or perhaps she deemed Molly a fool for offering a choice at all. Regardless, Cinder did not voice her thoughts on the matter, but her actions spoke for themselves. She looked at Molly, then at the Fae soldiers before her, then behind her at the portal she'd emerged from, and finally looked back at Ruby. Cinder set her jaw, and clenched her fist.

Overhead, the clouds grew darker, and lightning flashed in brilliant webs across the sky. Wind began to stir across the tarmac, a harsh fall gust that twisted the ash and smoke of battle into miniature vortexes. Cinder's eye ignited with fresh power, and…

The ground where she stood detonated, the air before her exploded, and Molly's shield flared to life in front of her. The Winter Lady and Fall Maiden collided in a brief explosion of raw magical power, incinerating the ground beneath their feet and scorching the air around them. It was impossible to tell exactly what happened next, but one moment they were both on the ground, and the next, the two women went screaming skyward into the clouds, where a fresh bout of thunder boomed, with no lightning to forewarn its arrival.

The tense silence that had consumed the tarmac lasted for a minute longer… and then, all hell broke loose.

A lone Beowolf let loose a howl, and was quickly joined by the hundreds of identical beings that surrounded it. Spurred by this, the horde began a sudden surge forward as one single whole, threatening to flow over the Fae lines with ease. Until, that is, they ran face first into rows of rapidly forming stakes of ice. The Grimm had no time to react, and the first line was skewered by ice sharper than glass and harder than steel, cutting their shadowy hides to ribbons. Their comrades slammed into their bodies, the sheer mass of the horde impaling the next line and the next on the angled spires of ice.

Grimm howled in agony and frustration as they were pinned in place and killed by their own momentum. More of the living shadows simply clambered over their decaying bodies and crashed against the Fae battle lines. Spears and swords flickered past heavy shields, cutting Grimm down with ease. In a more open engagement, the Grimm would have simply barreled over the Fae, engulfing them in an instant. But they were pinned against the airport terminal and surrounded on all sides, unable to bring their claws and fangs to bear.

For the moment, the Fae lines held strong, and were quickly reinforced by powerful magics. Miniature blizzards of razor sharp ice ripped across the field, tearing into Grimm hides. Those strong enough to resist it found their limbs slowly frozen to the earth beneath their feet, where spires of ice would arise and skewer them in place.

The Grimm had no natural resistance to magic, and the Fae seemed well aware of this. They unleashed their full arcane might upon the monsters, while using their own physical strength to pin them in place. It was a bloody slaughter, dozens of Grimm dying by the second…

And hundreds more pouring out of the portal to take their place. The Fae wouldn't last forever, but they didn't have to. They only had to buy everyone else time. Time that was being wasted by gawking.

Harry tore his gaze away from the spectacle of battle, and hooked a finger in Ruby's hood before she even made it two steps towards the battleline, "Hold on there, little red riding hood. Trust me when I say you don't want to get involved in that mess."

Ruby turned back with a face full of annoyance and opened her mouth, but Harry cut her off, "I know what you and your friends can do. But if you go charging in, the Fae won't bother pulling their punches if you get in their way. You want to risk getting a face full of magic for trying to help?"

Her mouth shut with an audible 'Clop!'. That was good, she was smart enough to listen. Harry released her hood and said, "It's Ruby, right?"

She nodded.

"Come on," Harry waved a hand away from the Fae battlelines, "We're going to meet up with your friends, then we'll figure out where you guys can lay down the smack. Sound good?"

A mischievous grin spread over Ruby's face, "Yeah, sounds good."

Harry returned the grin, and the two strode away from the Fae to Marcone's forces. Time was limited, so Harry broke into a jog, Ruby keeping pace at his side. The rest of her team hadn't left since the fighting broke out, and almost seemed oblivious to the wall of Grimm bearing down on them. Their attention, especially the redhead's, was all on Hendricks, who still refused to let them pass towards Pyrrha.

The redhead, Nora, was ranting at Hendricks, who remained stoic under the verbal assault "-And after I break your legs, I'm going to take this hammer and shove it right up your-"

"Whoa kay, hold up," Harry interrupted, getting between her and Hendricks. The big man's lips twitched up in amusement, the first sign of emotion from him since the fighting broke out.

Harry let out an exasperated sigh, "We're all on the same side here, let's not go throwing threats around willy-nilly, okay?"

Nora scowled, "And just who are you?"

"Harry Dresden. I'm the one who's been keeping your friend out of trouble." He glanced over his shoulder at Pyrrha. Gard was still hunched over her, working methodically while Marcone and another Einherjar assisted her.

"You're the one Pyrrha was talking about," the blonde, Jaune, said.

Harry looked back at the teens, "Yeah, that's me."

"Well, can you get us through then?" asked Jaune. His voice was strained, and he kept shifting his weight from one foot to another.

Harry took a deep breath, "That depends. Do any of you know how to treat a stab wound in the middle of a battlefield?" Only the clash of battle, and blank stares answered his question. "That's what I thought. When Gard is done, I'll talk to her, but right now, the best thing you all can do to help Pyrrha, is to help the rest of us."

He pointed toward the Fae battlelines with his staff, "They can hold the line for a few minutes if we're lucky, but there aren't enough Fae to hold back that horde. Our best option is to close the portal. We close it, everything that crossed over will get dragged back to your world. It's not a perfect solution, but it's the best we got."

Nora reached behind her back and revealed what appeared to be a chrome grenade launcher with a pink canister case. A large grin spread over her face as she said, "Then let's get to smashing!"

"We can't just charge in, Nora," Ruby interrupted. "Those people - what did you call them, Fae? They attack everything with magic, and I guess they don't care if we're in the way or not."

Nora visibly deflated at that, and folded her arms in a pout.

The blonde haired youth who had to be this Jaune that Pyrrha was so fixated on, frowned and looked towards the battlelines, "It can't be that bad, can it?"

"Depends on whether or not you like the idea of having your blood frozen in your veins," Harry replied. "Or being caught in a glass blizzard, or impaled on icicles. If none of that is an issue, then sure, it's not that bad."

On cue, a towering tornado of razor-sharp sleet whipped across the Grimm horde, cutting them to tiny pieces that quickly evaporated into the air. Jaune's eyes went big, and he swallowed, "Oh… point taken."

It was hard for Harry not to sigh in frustration. The presence of these kids was both a blessing and a curse. If they could fight like Pyrrha, turning the tide would be that much easier. But Molly hadn't told Harry that she could or that she would do this. The plan had been simple enough, lure Cinder and her cronies out into the open, then ambush her with the best warriors Molly could bring, and let his former apprentice herself put a stop to Cinder. That had seemed simple enough, but things had spiraled out of control fast. Pyrrha was out of the fight for one, and for two, these Fae, while strong, were just foot soldiers. Harry had hoped that Molly would bring those with a little more oomph. Fae like his godmother, they would have made mincemeat of this mindless horde, and Molly had to have a few powerful Fae under her control right?

There was obviously more to this than met the eye; Harry would have words with his former apprentice when this was all over. But until then, he would have to find a job for Pyrrha's friends that wouldn't end in them being skewered by the Winter Sidhe.

"Jaune, right?" Harry asked, and the blonde nodded. "How fast are you guys, and are you at least as strong as Pyrrha?"

"Oh, we can be fast, but no one's as strong as Pyrrha."

Harry glanced skyward at the stormclouds swirling overhead. Thunder without lightning filled the air, flashes of light lit up the clouds, and a frigid northern wind had blown across the airport.

"I can think of at least one person." he muttered bitterly, then shook his head. "Right, well then, I'm going to need the four of you to find a-"

A tiny trumpet interrupted Harry's sentence, and everyone turned toward the source. Hundreds of tiny firefly-like lights whizzed through the air towards Harry, swirling around Team RNJR for a moment, before quickly assembling in a loose formation overhead. Toot-toot, in all his hammy glory, dropped from the flock of Wild Fae, and perched himself atop Ruby's head.

"Ruby," Nora said slowly, "Don't move. There is an adorable tiny man standing on your head."

Ruby froze in place and strained her eyes toward the top of her head to catch a glimpse of said tiny man. Toot-toot puffed out his chest and glared at Nora. Harry groaned and snapped his fingers before the Fae went off on a rant about how he was not adorable, but a fierce and deadly warrior of the Za-Lord Guard.

"Toot, let it go," Harry ordered.

His chest deflated a little and he looked at Harry with a forlorn expression, "But, my lord!" he squeaked.

"No buts. I have an important mission for you, Major-General, and I need you at your best for it."

That got his attention, and Toot-toot went rigid with attention. Nora broke out into a fit of giggles, and Toot's eye twitched. "What… is your order, my lord?"

Harry pointed toward the battlelines, "Behind the Winter Court battlelines and the horde of Grimm, is a portal that's letting them through. If we destroy it, the Grimm go away, but we need to find a way to it. That's where you and the Za-Lord's guard come in. Find a path around the battle that we can sneak our people around, then come back and let me know. Understood?"

Toot clicked his heels together and gave a thematic salute, "Understood my lord! It shall be done!" His wings ignited in a flurry of motion, and he darted into the sky, trailing hundreds of his brothers-in-arms behind him.

"...Does anyone else understand what we just saw?" Jaune asked.

"I presume it was Dresden finding yet another way to get us out of this mess he dragged us into, yes?" Marcone seemingly materialized from nowhere besides Harry, causing team RNJR to jump in surprise.

Harry just sighed and glanced at Marcone, "How's Pyrrha?"

"The girl will live." Marcone confirmed. Harry felt a weight lift from his shoulders, only for the mob boss' next words to ruthlessly crush that spark of relief, "But not if she remains here. We are preparing to move the wounded and deceased, including her."

Marcone nodded at RNJR, "The help of the children will be… appreciated."

"We're on it," Jaune said, without a moment's hesitation.

The four rushed past Hendricks and Marcone to Pyrrha's side. Gard had just finished applying a fresh layer of gauze around her midsection, and a collapsible stretcher lay at her side. Pyrrha's face was pale and tired, but her eyes lit up when she saw her friends. She tried to sit up, but Gard put a firm hand on her shoulder and kept her on the ground.

"Limit your movement. We don't want you to reopen the wound."

Pyrrha didn't argue with Gard, and relaxed her body. She smiled up at her friends instead as they surrounded her. Her hand found Jaunes and gripped it tightly. "You came. I didn't expect …"

"Your friend Molly got ahold of us," he explained. "We weren't going to let you do this alone, not again."

"Yeah, we're a team, remember?" Nora said.

Pyrrha smiled her thanks. Gard cleared her throat and said, "If you are her 'team' then, perhaps you can help me move her onto the stretcher."

They did so, and Harry watched as Pyrrha was carefully moved from the ground onto the stretcher and strapped in place, never releasing Jaune's hand. Gard struggled to her feet and took a limping step back. Harry hadn't noticed it before, but the woman held herself with great care, hunched over and carefully holding her sides with one arm while limping back and forth.

Harry strode forward before she tried leaning over to lift up one half of the stretcher and whispered, "How bad?"

Gard glared at him from the corner of her eye, then let out a resigned sigh, "The boy is a coward and a snake. He did not expect me to fight as I did. He tried to flee, and I cornered him. He fought ferociously."

"That doesn't answer my question."

She sighed again, "Broken ribs, maybe. Fractured femur. Internal bleeding. I have suffered worse."

Harry knew from personal experience that Gard was not just putting on a brave face. This woman had fought off a small army of fallen angels after they had ripped open her stomach. She'd fight to her last dying breath, and while a few Denarians might not be able to take her down, a Huntsman might.

"I've got the stretcher," Harry told her. "Go with Hendricks and the others to the van."

"Dresden," Gard started to growl.

"Hello!" Nora yelled, catching their attention, "Are you two just gonna keep yapping, or are you gonna actually help? Because-"

A trio of wavering screams rose through the air, cutting Nora off. Harry whirled back towards the battlelines, where he saw three black shapes take to the skies.

They were large, each individually the size of a Clydesdale horse and covered in thick matted fur. They had leonine bodies that rippled with muscle and a pair of large ebony wings that effortlessly propelled them through the air. They had equine necks lined with slabs of bone that ended in a stark white beak and two sets of burning crimson eyes.

These Griffon-like Grimm winged through the air high above the battlelines, passing through spears of ice and winter winds that the Fae threw at them. They screeched again, and began flying towards Harry and company with deadly purpose. It would've been suicidal to attack anyone over the battlelines of course, but no one had to lift a finger.

Half a dozen womanly figures darted into air towards the Griffons, propelled by gossamer wings sharp as glass. The Griffons screeched a challenge as they were assaulted by the Sylphs, who latched onto the Grimm with their talons and steered them past the humans over the hill left in the wake of the initial assault. They quickly vanished from sight…

And several small explosions echoed from over the hill, followed by pillars of smoke and more screeching. A piece of debris came flying from the smoke, falling in an arc towards Harry. He jumped to the side as a smoldering bumper impaled itself into the tarmac with a 'Crack!' while its end wobbled back and forth for several seconds.

"...So I guess the trucks are out." Harry deadpanned. There had been time for Anastasia to be evacuated from the airport, but this was yet another in a long list of growing setbacks.

"We can take shelter under one of the terminals," Marcone suggested. "It will provide adequate cover until we can evacuate the wounded."

"Yeah, right up until Cinder and her cronies bring it crashing down on us," Harry shot back.

Marcone raised a single brow. "If you have a better suggestion Dresden, please, elaborate."

Harry grumbled under his breath, "Fine, terminal it is… criminal jackass."

Marcone did not say anything, but the small upturn at the edge of his lips gave away his pleasure at Harry's grumpiness. The wizard did his best to ignore it, and turned back to team RNJR, "Okay, kids. Once you've got Pyrrha where she needs to be, come back here and meet with me. I'm going to be working with the Wardens to set up some nasty surprises for the Grimm once they start breaking that line. Got it?"

They nodded, their faces stern and understanding of the situation. Harry sighed, "Good." and walked off. Gard was the one who organized the careful transportation of the wounded and 'deceased' to the terminal. Even with her injuries, her iron will refused to crack and no one argued with her. Most of Marcone's forces, for the moment, withdrew their support from the Wardens to move the injured, but with the Fae absorbing the Grimm assault, their presence was not missed.

Jaune and Ren took either side of Pyrrha's stretcher and carefully marched with her toward the terminal, Nora and Ruby standing sentinel to her left and right. Pyrrha took the lull in insanity to let her head roll back and her eyes start to close. She was exhausted, and though she hated to admit it, there was nothing she could do to contribute to the fighting, until her Aura recovered. But her friends could replace her in the meantime, they would have to.

As Pyrrha drifted in and out of consciousness, Ren sent Jaune a knowing look. The blonde glanced toward the battle line again. A vicious roar accompanied the sound of half a dozen Fae shouting in surprise as they were sent flying through the air. An Ursa Major, its bony hide bristling with spikes, knocked them aside with contemptuous ease and forced its massive bulk through the fae arrayed against it. Its bloody eyes swiveled across the tarmac toward the small convoy of injured and it bellowed a challenge.

Ruby and Nora readied their weapons, but it was a wasted effort. A massive creature, a Troll that towered head and shoulders over the Ursa and sporting slabs of grey muscular skin that were armored in Fae metals, appeared seemingly from nowhere to meet the bear-Grimm head on. The two clashed in a shower of sparks and shattered bone, but the Trolls greater mass stunned the Ursa Major long enough for the Troll to get one hand around ts skull and another around one of its legs and heave the bear over its head, before slamming it to the ground hard enough to shake it. The Troll grabbed the Ursa's head in two meaty fists, planted its pillar like foot on the small of its back, and heaved until something snapped and the Ursa's head came free.

The Troll raised its macabre trophy high and bellowed a challenge at the Grimm. Then it went stampeding into the waiting wall of fur and fang once more, and the battle line quickly closed shut.

"...What in the world did we just watch?" Jaune asked, exchanging a look with Ren.

"It would appear that these… Fae, have the Grimm under control, for the moment." was his reply.

Nora hefted her grenade launcher and said, "Well, the sooner we can join in, the better. I wanna get this out of the way so we can bring Pyrrha home."

Overhead, stormclouds swirled, dark and angry, crackling with lightning. Thunder continued its endless cacophony, assaulting the ears of those below. But it was obvious that the thunder was not natural in origin. Though they could not see it, many on the tarmac below knew what was happening in the sky's above. The Fall Maiden and Winter Lady were unleashing the full might of their abilities, bending nature to their will in an effort to overwhelm the other. For the moment, they seemed evenly matched, and their stalemate began to spill into the battles below.

RNJR had just reached the terminal, when a bolt of lightning streaked through the air and struck a jagged piece of metal embedded in the ground, just half a dozen feet away from Ruby. She screamed and jumped back, pulling a colossal red rifle from within her cloak, before realizing what happened, and sheepishly lowering it. The rain began to fall a moment later, first in a faint drizzle, but quickly growing into a suffocating downpour.

Jaune glanced up, shielding his eyes with one hand, and frowned, "We need to hurry."

No one needed to be told twice. They rushed to the terminal while rain soaked through their clothing. Ruby used her cloak to shield Pyrrha as they ran, and their little group quickly found shelter under the terminal, along with the other members of Marcones forces.

Many of the men, those who had not been killed in Mercury's initial assault, had been injured in some way. Most were getting by fine and tending to their injuries, but a few were in more critical condition. Wrecked vehicles and debris were being moved to protect against the rain, and several men had set up makeshift medical tents already. Gard was among them, and when she saw team RNJR, she gestured them over to her.

They complied, and gently set Pyrrha down upon reaching Gard. She knelt down, wincing as she did, and placed a hand against Pyrrha's forehead. One eye shot open at the touch, but Pyrrha calmed when she saw her friends, and drifted off again.

"She doesn't have a fever, which is good." Gard informed them. "But, we can't leave her here either. Your kind may be more resistant to injury than most, but we need to move her and the other wounded off the tarmac."

Jaune folded his arms, "What can we do to help?"

Gard swept her tired eyes over the many injured, the dead, and the few who were unharmed, establishing a perimeter around the makeshift infirmary in case of Grimm. It would be useless if Mercury returned though, and many more would be slaughtered. Her gaze briefly fell onto a ruined trolley, and flicked back to the teens, "Until Dresden finds a path to the portal, we'll need transport. Find a working vehicle, and we can move your companion to safety."

"On it," Ruby said, already moving with the others out into the rain.

They didn't get more than five feet, before the ground in front of them exploded, showering them with mud and concrete dust. A creep the size of a small car pried itself free of the ground, and opened its massive jaw in a blood-curdling scream, signaling dozens more, smaller creeps to pour out of the tunnel. The einherjar began to raise their weapons, a gesture too slow to matter. By the time they had sighted the creature, Ruby had sprung into action.

She was a blur of red, swinging around the creatures left flank and leaping onto its back, her oversized rifle in hand. With but a press of a switch, the rifle transformed, unraveling into a crimson scythe, blade gleaming in the dim light. Ruby caught the curve of the weapon on the inside of the creep's maw as it screamed, and pulled. There was only a moment of resistance before its upper jaw was severed from the rest of its body, and it fell to the ground dead.

Ruby back-flipped off the corpse, and spun as she landed, swinging her scythe in an arc that cut through the soft flesh of the younger and weaker creeps with ease, cutting their numbers in half. All of this occurred in the span of a few seconds, leaving the remaining creeps to be gunned down before they could even cross under the terminal.

As the last Grimm fell, the ground beneath Ruby's began to shake, and clawed hands burst from it in a geyser of gravel. Ruby yelped and jumped backwards ,avoiding the reaching, grasping claws that tore at her cloak and skirt. A slash of her scythe disarmed them, inciting a furious howl from beneath the concrete.

The rest of the ground gave way, and Beowolves began prying themselves free, the new breed that Harry had encountered. Taller, stockier, and clearly more intelligent, they were an obvious improvement over the lankier and more feral beasts that Ruby was used to dealing with.

Their sense of perception however, was as poor as ever. They did not see Nora, or her hammer, coming. With a smack, a boom, and a badaboom, three wolves found themselves smashed, crushed, and flung across the battlefield. Nora hefted her hammer over her shoulder, stood at Ruby's side, and grinned wildly.

"This is where the fun starts, right?"

Jaune and Ren caught up with the two girls, and stood on either side of them. Yet more Beowolves pried themselves free of the ground while Creeps followed close on their tails. Jaune reached for his scabbard and pulled it from his belt, letting it expand into an ivory and gold shield. He pulled an equally stark blade from its center, and stood his ground.

"Nora, Ruby, you're the front line. Keep from getting any closer to the terminal. Ren, you and I will pick up stragglers. If anything gets past us, I think the guards can handle the rest."

"Sounds good to me." Nora chuckled.

She raised her hammer, let out a bubbly laugh, and charged toward the Grimm. Ruby followed, and the two girls rained havoc on the Grimm horde. Howls and snarls of rage filled the air, followed immediately by cries of pain and surprise. Body parts flew through the air as Ruby carved a path of destruction through the Grimm.

Nora took to smashing any Grimm that tried to surround Ruby with giddy enjoyment. Her hammer reduced heads to paste, shattered torsos, and broke the backs of a dozen Beowolves. If Ruby was the surgical edge their attack, then Nora was the explosive aftershock that followed; and yet more Grimm continued to burst from the ground in streams as thick as the rain that poured around them. Strong as they were, the two girls would not have been able to halt the horde on their own.

That's where Ren and Jaune came in.

Ren was a frigid wind, cutting through Grimm without pause, ducking under blows, rolling over Ursa, and ripping apart Creeps in seconds. Though his weapons, only two small automatic pistols with sickle like blades attached vertically under their barrelss, paled in comparison to Ruby and Nora's, they still showed their effectiveness in his hands. The small rounds tore into the hides of Grimm, staggering and stunning them in time for him to sink the wicked sharp blades into their flesh and rip them apart. A Beowolf found its forearm pierced with one blade, and then severed at the elbow with the other, before losing its head a moment later.

In contrast to Ren's fluid grace, Jaune stood his ground, a cliffside standing against the inevitable crash of the tide. His shield was a battering ram, knocking Grimm back hard enough to stun even Ursa, and his sword sang with delight as he was easily able to cleave Beowolfs in two. His attacks were simple and efficient, basic combat techniques that anyone could learn. But they were well practiced, and Jaune put them to good use.

Individually, the members of Team RNJR could have put a dent in the horde, but would have inevitably fallen in the rain. Together, they stalled the tide, cutting Grimm down by the dozens. Any that managed to slip through their guard were quickly gunned down by the awaiting Einherjar that took cover under the terminal. Together, they would hold the line until they found a way to end this battle for good.

But no strategy ever survives first contact with the enemy.

It was as Ruby caught a Beowolfs head on the inward curve of her scythe, that the ground detonated behind her, showering her with yet more shattered concrete. She beheaded the Grimm and whirled towards the new hole in time for a massive black shape to slam into her.

Ruby yelped as she was carried by her momentum out of the horde and crashed against the ground. Her Aura protected her until she rolled to a stop, unharmed but dazed. She shook her head and looked at her attacker, and felt an acute sense of deja vu.

A Beringel prowled towards her, its face and chest horrifically burned. It was bigger than the last one that Ruby had seen, and smarter. It had waited for her to be in the midst of an attack before springing its trap, and had quickly dragged her out of the horde away from her friends, leaving her alone for the moment.

Ruby got to her feet, hefted her scythe, and grinned mockingly at the Beringel. The Grimm let out a monstrous roar, pounded its fists against its chest, and charged at her.

 **A/N: This chapter... ugh, this chapter. Most of you may or may not remember, but my original plan for the final battle was a three chapter epic that I was trying to release back to back. Needless to say, this is not the case here. The previous chapter turned out far longer than I anticipated, and chapter 37 was taking the same path. I'd either have to cut some of the fights I had planned, or simply divide the chapters up. I decided on the latter. What was going to be Chapter 37 in its entirety is now being divided into, at minimum, two chapters, at max, four. What was going to be chapter 38 may stay the same length, or I may cut it into two chapters. Regardless, I realize that from the start, I shouldn't have tried to cram the entire climax into three chapters. It creates a long, exhausting read, with no real break for the reader.**

 **It also makes it easier for me to write, as I no longer have to dread the endless chapter like I did with chapter 36 and most of 37. I wish I had come to this conclusion sooner though, so Remnant didn't get shoved to the side for so long. But, with chapters returning to their usual length now, I hope I can churn them out a lot faster and with hopefully better quality. My editors will be picking this chapter apart again later, so expect a possible edited version to come up later.**

 **Otherwise, I'm happy to be back to writing Remnant, and I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter for what it was. Feel free to let me know what you think, and I'll see you all next time!**


	39. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

This was a mess, there was no other way to say it.

Jaune hadn't known what to expect when he'd been dragged to Earth, but being flung into battle against an unending horde of Grimm hadn't been at the top of his list. Admittedly, it was still somewhere in the top ten, but this was ridiculous. Grimm continued to clash against the Fae battle line, and the Fae tore them apart with their magics, killing Grimm in droves. Lightning crackled across the sky, thunder boomed against his ears, and rain poured in sheets. Molly was still doing battle with Cinder with no end in sight.

The Grimm had forced their way underground in an attempt to circumnavigate the Fae and get at the injured, further adding to the chaos. That was where RNJR had come in, acting as a wall of stone, throwing back wave after wave of Grimm. That was difficult enough with all four of them in place and the support of, what was his name, Marcone? It was difficult enough with Marcone's forces providing fire support.

But now they were a teammate down; Ruby was torn away from their group by one of the largest Beringel that Jaune had ever seen (not that he had seen many), and there was nothing they could do to help. The Grimm were still coming, and the rain was making the ground slick beneath their feet. Ruby was on her own for the moment.

Lightning flashed in the corner of Jaune's vision, and he flinched. A Beowolf lunged at him, crashing into his raised shield. He planted his feet on the slippery ground, and slid backwards several feet before coming to a stop. With a thrust of his sword, Jaune impaled the Beowolf below its ribs, eliciting a roar of furious rage. It pushed its weight down on him, an attempt to crush him with its superior strength.

Jaune ripped Crocea Mors from the Beowolf's side and jumped back. It stumbled and fell, nearly crashing to the ground. Jaune didn't give it time to recover and thrust the tip of his sword through its skull. The Grimm's eyes went out, and it evaporated in the rain.

His sword and shield were up and ready in an instant for the next wave of Grimm to descend on him, but they never came. For a brief moment, the gunfire had ceased and the torrent of Grimm had shrunk to a trickle.

Ren and Nora still stood together, Nora bashed Grimm aside with her hammer, her expression one of manic glee. Ren ghosted behind her, quickly tearing apart any Grimm that tried to flank her. Together they were unstoppable and pushing the waning horde back into the tunnels they'd sprung from.

It couldn't be helped, Jaune grinned and jogged back to them. Together they could plug the leak and focus on closing this portal for good. Things seemed to be turning around faster than he'd expected. That was reason enough for him to worry. Nothing ever went that smoothly for Jaune or his team; there were always complications.

He had just caught up with Ren and Nora, when said complication reared its ugly head.

There was a flash of grey and the crack of a shotgun. What felt like a sledgehammer hit Jaune across the back, knocking him face first to the ground in a spray of rainwater. He quickly pushed himself back up, wiping wet hair out of his face, and was up in time to see Mercury lunging at Ren.

Mercury's surprise attack on Jaune was more than enough to alert Ren of his presence, and he was able to whirl around in time to meet him head on. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Ren dodged under Mercury's kick, catching the heel of his boot on his knife and knocking him off balance. Mercury kicked out with his other leg, catching Ren under the chin, forcing him back.

Ren smoothly rolled away, keeping low to the ground, while Mercury casually backflipped away and landed with his arms and folded and still smirking at him, "Two on two, sounds like fair odds. What do you think?" he asked.

"I think your math is off," Ren scowled.

"Is it?" Mercury continued smirking.

There was a flash of orange and pink, Nora and Neo crashed between the two. Neo, her twin colored hair wet and flat against her head, leaped off of Nora's stomach and landed smoothly opposite Ren and to Mercury's right. She unfolded her parasol and held it overhead to block the rain, and smiled sweetly at Nora, her eyes flashing with an inhuman malice. Ren helped Nora up and the two stood side by side, facing Mercury and Neo respectively.

Jaune moved to help them when he realized something. Cinder hadn't had two people with her at the start of the fight, she'd had three. So if Mercury and Neo were fighting them, then where was their third member? Where was Emerald?

A chill of terror ran down Jaune's spine and he whirled towards the campground. It had fallen disturbingly quiet far too quickly. Maybe the Grimm had broken off their assault on the camp, and maybe Jaune was about to sprout wings and go soaring into the air. Grimm didn't stop attacking until they were dead, or unless a greater source of negative emotion drew them away. The implications gave rise to a shudder he couldn't suppress.

What could he do though? Mercury and Neo wouldn't let them leave, that was for sure. The Grimm were still surging out from their tunnels, in a trickle for now, but it wouldn't last forever. If Jaune stayed, then the Grimm would have a clear shot at the encampment, and if his hunch was right, Emerald would have free reign of the place, and she'd be alone with Pyrrha. But if he left, that would leave Nora and Ren to handle Mercury and Neo alone.

"Ren, the third one isn't here!" Jaune yelled.

Ren didn't take his eyes off Mercury, but gave a nod, "Okay. Check on the injured. Nora and I can buy you time."

Jaune smiled fiercely and nodded once, "Right. Be careful!"

He didn't wait for Ren to respond, turning on his heel and sprinting for the encampment as fast as his legs could carry him. He didn't get more than ten feet before he heard shouting and gunfire, followed by screams of surprise and pain. Fear wrapped its cold tendrils around his heart, and squeezed tight.

"Hold on Pyrrha, I'm coming!"

* * *

Gard was a strong, skilled, and determined woman who had given her all from the moment they'd arrived at the airport. The battle had been all too happy to take what it wanted from her, and though the woman didn't back down, she was in poor condition for more combat, especially close quarters. Her fight with Emerald was over before it had barely even begun.

An attempt at suppressive fire proved useless, the green haired girl had vanished from Gard's sight before she could squeeze off a round from the pistol she carried. Emerald had materialized by her side a moment later, slamming her knee into ribs that were already fractured. Bone snapped, and fiery pain ignited along her flank, sucking the air from her lungs. Gard stumbled to one knee, ground her teeth together in a fierce snarl, and surged back to her feet towards her attacker.

The sheer defiance caught Emerald off guard, but she was in far better shape than her opponent. Maybe if Gard had been at full strength, she could have prevailed. Wounded and battered as she was, it was pathetically easy for Emerald to avoid the lunge and seize Gard's right arm, twisting hard until bone snapped, followed rapidly with a brutally swift and powerful kick that almost pulverized Gard's ankle. Gard bit back most of a howl of agony and tensed against the pain, attempting to still move, still fight. Then her body went slack and she slumped to the ground, another victim amongst the other dozen or so that Emerald had left in her wake.

The few Grimm that had followed her, Creeps mostly, were keeping the rest of the guards busy while Emerald had zeroed in on her target. The screaming, yelling, and gunfire covered any chance of Pyrrha screaming for help, and the guards around her had joined Gard in unconsciousness. She'd made an effort to disable them with broken bones and knockout blows; Mercury had told her about the surprise resurrection of the men he killed, and she had no desire to relive his experience. All that was left now, was putting a bullet between the eyes of the young woman lying on the cot where Gard had been watching over her.

Pyrrha, unsurprisingly, did not remain passive though. When Emerald turned to face the redhead, she found her struggling for her weapons placed just out of reach, movements sluggish but determined. There were a lot of things that Emerald could say about Pyrrha, but the top of that list would be that the girl just didn't know when to give up. She would have admired it, if it weren't so pathetic.

Emerald slowly walked up to Pyrrha's sword and shield and kicked them away. She planted a foot on Pyrrha's outstretched arm and aimed both of her revolvers between those bright green eyes. Pyrrha stared up at them, no, past them, locking her eyes with Emerald's in a gesture of defiance. That little spark still burned, even through the pain and exhaustion that was struggling to drag Pyrrha back into unconsciousness.

"It isn't personal," Emerald assured her, though the words felt hollow in her mouth. "We just can't let any more loose ends survive this."

Pyrrha didn't give Emerald the satisfaction of a response, and continued to stare. Something dry and bitter tasted in the girl's mouth as she tightened her grip on her revolvers. Her hand was shaking a little and she was finding it hard to look past her eyes. It shouldn't be this hard, especially after Pyrrha had managed to hurt Cinder. The boss had made it very clear that if all else failed, she didn't want Pyrrha to leave this battlefield alive.

Emerald took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and pulled the trigger.

A sudden weight shoved her aside and her shot went wide. Emerald quickly gathered her senses even as she hit the ground, and managed to roll to her feet in one fluid motion, opening fire on her attacker as she did. Bullets ricocheted off of the brilliant white of Jaune's shield with barely a scratch, until the revolvers clicked empty.

She quickly reloaded, but didn't bother wasting her bullets on trying to get through what was obviously a bullet proof shield. Instead she smirked and put a hand on her hip, "Really? You, of all people? I feel insulted."

Jaune lowered his shield until her was peering over its edge at her. His eyes glared hard at Emerald with no amusement in them. When he spoke, his voice was deadly serious, and deadly calm, "As long as I'm here, you people will never hurt Pyrrha again."

"What, because you're going to stop us?" Emerald laughed, "I saw you fight in the tournament. You're a joke, kid, a loser. The only reason you and your team got as far as it did is because of her. Without her, you're nothing."

The young man's tone of voice didn't change, "Maybe. But I'm still not backing down."

"Jaune…" Pyrrha said. Her voice was tired, and filled with worry. He glanced back at her for a split second. It was all Emerald needed.

She rushed towards Jaune and vanished into thin air. Jaune only had time to blink in surprise before an unseen force knocked his legs out from under him and he went down hard face first. He lashed out a foot at random, hoping to catch his opponent unawares, and was rewarded with a surprised yelp from Emerald as she stumbled.

Jaune rushed back to his feet, weapons in hand, and slashed at the air above and around Pyrrha to no avail. Emerald seemingly vanished into thin air as far as he was concerned, and how was he supposed to hit something he couldn't see?

Another invisible blow struck him across the back of his knees, sending him falling. Jaune slashed wildly with Crocea Mors, and felt something grab his forearm and twist, flinging him onto his back. A heavy object slammed into his face, blocked only by the faint shimmering of his Aura. He realized it was Emerald's fist, and that she had pinned him to the ground to chip away at his Aura.

Jaune snarled and smashed his head forward, meeting Emeralds fist head on. She growled in surprise and the weight on his chest vanished. There was a faint scuffling sound, and then silence again, save for the gunfire from Marcone's men. Jaune got back to his feet again and readied his shield, keeping close to Pyrrha.

"Jaune..." She repeated, with more urgency in her voice.

"Don't worry Pyrrha," he assured her, "I won't let you down this time."

"Jaune!" she yelled this time.

He blinked and looked back at her. Pyrrha had propped herself up on one arm, and there was an expression of annoyance on her face. In her free hand, she held her tiara out to him, dangling on her fingers.

He arched a brow at her.

"Take it…" she wheezed. "It was… enchanted. You'll be able to see her if you… if you wear it."

Jaune stared at the tiara, unconvinced, "Um… are you sure? And do I have to wear it?"

"Jaune.." she hissed through clenched teeth.

He winced, "Right, sorry." and grabbed her tiara.

That was when Emerald tackled Jaune again, her fingers darting for the tiara in his hands. It was a predictable move, and Jaune had seen it coming a mile away. His grip on the tiara was like iron, and he had already put his shield between most of his body and from where he had thought Emerald would come from. With a growl and a shove, he shoved her back and put the tiara on.

Everything grew clearer, and Emerald materialized several feet away, crouched low on the ground with an angry sneer on her face. It flickered into amusement and she said, "Is court in session now, m'lady?"

"I thought you were here to fight?" Jaune shot back, ignoring the barb. He fell back into a relaxed position, his grip on his sword firm.

The sneer returned to Emerald's face, and she lunged without another word. She darted side to side, circling Jaune in an attempt to get around his defenses. If he let his guard down for a second, Jaune knew that the girl wouldn't hesitate to slip through them to get at Pyrrha. As long as he kept his defenses strong though, he could buy time until someone could help him.

Jaune held no illusions about his chances in a fight against Emerald; while he was definitely a better fighter than when he had arrived at Beacon, the fact was that he was still behind most other Huntsmen. The only thing he was good at, was hiding behind his shield and absorbing hits until someone else from his team could handle whatever was attacking him. It worked against Grimm and in the Vytal Festival, but he wasn't sure if it would work against Emerald.

Without warning, Emerald juked right, then darted left towards Jaune's sword arm, opening fire as she ran. He barely got his shield between himself and the rounds, and they harmlessly bounced off its surface. Emerald fell into a slide, and skid past Jaune. She caught one of her sickles on his leg and ripped it out from under him.

Jaune landed face first in the dirt and scrambled onto his back with his shield raised. Emerald slammed her sickles against it in a shower of sparks. She immediately fell back at Jaune's resistance and darted away.

Jaune got back to his feet, glared at her, and hefted his shield, "That all you got?"

That was how it unfolded. Emerald would try and dart past Jaune's defenses, cutting and firing as she went, only for Jaune to repel her. He simply refused to budge, and it was this solid immobility that was getting to Emerald. Without her Semblance, Jaune could make their fight into a real chore. He couldn't catch Emerald, he was nowhere near fast enough, but he could slow her down until help arrived.

Her usual tactics wouldn't work on him, and she knew it. Odds were good, it was only a matter of time before Emerald would try something crazy and desperate in an attempt to catch Jaune off guard. But until she did, all he had to do was keep himself in front of Pyrrha and in Emerald's way, and wait.

He didn't have to wait long.

Jaune shoved Emerald away again, slashing in a diagonal angle that would've laid the girl out if it hit. Emerald spun on her feet backwards, the swords tip missing her skin by inches, and flung her sickle chains forward as she came to a stop. They lashed out, wrapping tight around Jaune's arm. He was dragged to the ground with a surprised yell and Emerald darted past him towards Pyrrha.

Without looking, Jaune kicked his leg out and caught the girls ankle, sending her to the pavement. Unlike Jaune, she recovered faster, rolling with the fall to her feet and bringing both sickles down on Pyrrha.

Or rather, on Pyrrha's shield.

During their scuffle, Pyrrha hadn't remained idle. Though her injury was far from minor, Pyrrha had grabbed her weapons and prepared herself in case Emerald managed to sneak past Jaune. She was in no condition to fight off another Aura-user, but holding a shield she could manage.

Emerald let out a cry of frustration and stomped on Pyrrha's shield, pinning it to her chest. Pyrrha cried out in pain as Emerald crushed her beneath her own shield. Emerald may not possess the incredible strength that some did, but she was still far stronger than a normal human was. Without her Aura, Pyrrha was helpless to do anything but watch as Emerald pointed the sickle, now in its revolver form, between her eyes.

"I said stay away from her!" Jaune bellowed. On instinct, Emerald spun to face Jaune, while jumping backwards at the same time. She knew how far she needed to be to avoid the blade of his sword, and was already preparing her counter attack as she moved.

The massive sword Jaune now held in his hands though, was nearly two feet longer than the weapon Emerald had seen him wielding, and slammed into her gut with a force that would've shattered concrete. Emerald gasped for air as it was driven out of her, and a brilliant green light flared around her. She was flung away from Pyrrha to the ground, sucking in lungfuls of air even as she struggled to her feet.

Jaune didn't give her time to recover and went after her with murder in his eyes. He brought the longsword down on Emerald, and it was only her instincts that saved her. She scrambled out of the way of the blow by mere inches; it shattered the tarmac and a column of wind buffeted Emerald, which knocked her off her unbalanced feet.

Again and again, Jaune went after Emerald, swinging his sword with such strength that the air around them was whipped into a ferocious torrent. It took all Emerald had just to avoid his attacks, he was swinging faster and harder than he ever had when he had wielded his sword and shield, and gave her no time to recover.

Emerald dodged another horizontal swing that staggered her, and was shocked to see Jaune easily whip his sword overhead and bring it down in a great crashing attack that would likely split her in two if it hit. She managed, barely, to cross her sickles overhead, catching the blade at the cross and crying out at the sheer power behind the blow. She fell to one knee as Jaune pushed all his weight behind the blade, slowly overpowering Emerald every second.

Then the weight was gone, he was reeling back for another overhead blow. There was no time for her to dodge, Emerald prepared to catch the attack again. She didn't catch the faint smile on Jaune's face as he feinted the downward strike. Emeralds sickles clashed together in preparation overhead for the blow that never came.

Jaune waited until she had secured her guard, a gesture that took all of half a second, then slammed the hilt of his sword on top of Emerald's skull. It was a clumsy maneuver, and she never would have fallen for it earlier, but that was why Jaune had been so relentless. By giving Emerald no chance to recover, he'd worn her nerves down until he was able to get another clean hit on her.

The blow filled Emeralds vision with stars and she fell backwards, scrambling away from where she thought Jaune was. Her feet found purchase and she staggered up, still backing away from him as fast as she could. As her vision cleared, she was able to see Jaune sprint at her and slash at her with his sword one last time.

Her Aura ignited in brilliant jade fire for the briefest of moments, then shattered under the blow. Fire erupted across Emeralds stomach and she went sprawling across the ground, blood trickling from the long and thin cut Jaune had left across her midsection. She didn't get back up again.

Jaune's shoulders heaved and sweat poured down his face in rivers. His hands were shaking and the sword almost fell from his grip. He planted it in the ground and fell to one knee, wiping the sweat from his eyes. If Emerald had caught his feint, he would've been done. It had taken all his strength to attack as ferociously as he had with the sword, and he was still unfamiliar with the weight. Sheer luck and surprise had given him victory that day, nothing more.

"Jaune?"

The young man looked over his shoulder at Pyrrha. She was up on one elbow again, her eyes wide with surprise, pride, and a mixture of other smoldering emotions he couldn't quite make out. He gave her a weak smile and slowly got back to his feet.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Pyrrha blinked, "Am I? Yes, I'm… when could you do that with your sword?"

Jaune looked at his blade where one edge had been dyed a dark red. He used the edge of his jacket to clean his blade, and shrugged, "This old thing?" He squeezed a button on the guard, and the blade's edges retracted. His shield sprang to life a moment later and he pulled Crocea Mor from where it had rested in the center of it.

Pyrrha's eyes went wide, "I had no idea your sword could get so big! And you've learned so many new tricks since last time."

He shrugged, trying not to smile, "I figured I needed to practice more. And I could always make it bigger, I just couldn't use it before. I'm not very good with it yet though."

She flashed him a smile of her own,"There will be plenty of time to practice when this is all over,"

Emerald let out a pained groan, "Please… just kill me. I'd rather be dead than listen to you two try to flirt."

Jaune glared, he was sorely tempted to go over there and finish what he'd started. But cooler heads prevailed, when a pair of the mysterious gunmen that had been working with them approached their little warzone. It was only now that Jaune noticed the gunfire had died down during his fight with Emerald, and there wasn't a Grimm in sight.

The two men, both very tall and very muscular and clad in black body armor, advanced on them. They both held large blocky machine guns, with the barrels pointed down at the moment. Jaune never completely took his eye off Emerald, but turned to face the men as they arrived.

One of them broke off and went to Gard's side, while the other walked straight up to Jaune and pointed at Emerald, "She's one of those huntresses?" he asked. His tone reminded Jaune of the Atleasian soldiers, all serious and gruff.

"Yeah, she is. Do you have something we can restrain her with?" Jaune asked.

The man gestured back towards the rest of the similarly armed and armored men, "We've got chains and heavy duty cuffs. That work?"

Jaune nodded, "That works. Do you need help or…?"

If he could help he would, otherwise he wanted to be by Pyrrha's side to make sure she was okay. Had he tried to leave before the men talked to them, Pyrrha would have insisted he talked to them first before checking on her, but he was aching to see her.

"You're fine kid," the man replied, looking at Emerald as he spoke. The girl had propped herself up on one elbow and used her other arm to cover her stomach. It wasn't bleeding badly, but she definitely wasn't going anywhere at the moment.

"We'll keep double guards on her. No tricks to get past us." he continued.

No sooner had the words left his mouth, then the ground shuddered and an explosion shook the air. Jaune whirled back towards the outside, where the rain continued to pour. Steam filled the air, clouding any sight of the battlefield. And of Nora or Ren.

"Oh no…" Jaune was already moving, only stopping for a moment by Pyrrha's side to see if she would be okay.

"I'll be fine. Go to the others." she insisted.

He nodded and sprinted back out into the rain, sword and shield in hand. The steam parted for him and he readied himself for the fight of his life as a pair of figures came into view, turning towards him with weapons ready. He had handled Emerald, but only barely, and if he had to fight Mercury and Neo together, he was finished. But he'd give them the fight of their lives in the meantime.

Ren and Nora looked relieved when Jaune could finally see their faces. Without a word, Ren pointed behind them at the source of the chaos that had dragged him from the triage area. Jaune looked, and he couldn't hide his shock.

The earth had seemed to rise and swallow Mercury, dragging him into a lumpy cocoon of asphalt that covered everything but his nose and mouth so he could breath. Next to him, Neo had been frozen mid jump, ice holding her three feet in the air. Her hair was spread wide in a crazed fan of pinks and browns, and the ice sizzled as the rain drummed against it. Only her face remained untouched by the frozen water.

And standing to the side, grinning like a madman while leaning on his staff, was Harry Dresden and the remaining twenty or so Wardens.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," he said. "We were a little busy."

 **A/N: I live! After barely surviving my first quarter in university, I finally got this godforsaken chapter finished! It was shorter than I had initially planned, but I find I write smaller chapters better than longer page turners. At the very least, they're easier to write.**

 **Anyway, before I go, I have a minor announcement to make. Once the main story of Remnant is finished, all that will be left is the epilogue. And the epilogue will take some time to finish as a result of something big. I call it 'Project: Editorial Mandate'. Basically, I'm well aware that Remnant is far from a perfect story and has some serious flaws here and there. Editorial Mandate is going to involve me going through every chapter and editing it. In some cases, even rewriting the entire damn thing. So that will take some time to complete. Obviously that won't come until after the main story, but that's going to take some serious time regardless. When the epilogue does go up though, make sure to read through the story again, as there's going to be many changes that create a more flowing and consistent narrative.**

 **I hope.**

 **Anyway, its great to be back, please let me know what you thought of the chapter, short as it is, in the reviews, and I'll see y'all next time!**


	40. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

Harry took a quick look over the situation and knew it was deteriorating fast. The Grimm had stopped tunneling under the Fae, but only because the Fae themselves were beginning to falter. Overhead, Molly and Cinder's battle still raged, lighting crackling across the sky in a brilliant light show of blues and whites that lit up the sky. The ground was slick with rain that showed no sign of slowing. The situation was growing dire, their window of opportunity was shrinking.

He looked back at the huntsmen, who were really just kids like Pyrrha, and took a deep breath, "You three still good to fight?"

Ren and Nora nodded silently; Jaune was in the middle of his best fish impression. "I… how did this happen?"

Harry scratched his chin and couldn't help the smile, "A little Winter magic was enough to cool off Torchwick's mini-me. The wardens used earth magic to rock Mercury's world. This should hold them until the whole thing blows over."

"Yeah, right," Mercury snorted disdainfully from his earthen cacoon, "You really think you'll be able to hold us? Especially with Cinder and Emerald still running around?"

At that, Harry frowned and kicked some dirt on Mercury's exposed face. He sputtered and gasped, "What was that!? What just touched my face!?"

"The kid has a point though," said Ramirez, looking at Harry questioningly, "I can leave a few Wardens behind to keep an eye on them. Last thing we need is these two running loose."

Harry nodded at that, "If we can spare the manpower. That girl and her illusions will cause trouble, but we know to expect her now-"

"Actually, Emerald won't be a problem." Jaune interrupted after finally finding his voice.

Harry and Ramirez both looked back at him, and his two teammates stared expectantly. Jaune pointed a finger back towards the triage area, "Emerald lead a small group of Grimm over there to take care of the wounded, but I took care of her. Her Aura is broken and she's being restrained."

Nora and Ren's stares grew longer and wider. Jaune blinked at them, "What?"

"You handled Emerald?" Nora started.

"On your own?" Ren finished.

Jaune folded his arms and looked defensive, "I did. What about it?"

The two exchanged a look, and Ren said, "Well Jaune, we saw what Emerald could do. She's very skilled…"

"And I'm not?" Jaune asked.

"Hey, at least you admit it." Nora muttered. Ren shot her a look and she raised her hands defensively, "We were both thinking it!"

Harry interrupted with a cough, "Children, focus please. Jaune, you know for sure that Emerald is dealt with?"

Jaune frowned at his teammates a moment longer than nodded at Harry, touching the tiara on his head that he'd forgotten to take off in all the confusion, "Pyrrha gave me this during the fight. It lets me see through Emeralds illusions. She's pretty bad without her Semblance to rely on."

Harry grunted, "Ah. And here I thought you were just making a fabulous fashion statement. Good, that solves another problem though, now-"

The tarmac shuddered again, and detonated several feet off. A small pack of Grimm boiled out of the newly formed hole and charged towards them, only to be cut down in a hail of gunfire from the side. They fell in heaps of disintegrating sickly flesh, dead before they even realized it.

Harry lowered his staff and the runes cooled. He looked in the direction the gunfire had come from and saw Marcone approaching them, with a personal guard and Hendricks in tow. He looked annoyed.

"Dresden," Marcone said, voice firm, "I do hope you have an actual plan to deal with this mess, one that cannot be best summed up as 'standing around'. This endeavor has been quite expensive for me both on a monetary and personnel level, and I'd rather end it sooner rather than later."

"I'm working on it. I've got a man scouting out the area right now, so we can get around that mess." he pointed at the steadily growing horde for emphasis. "I just need a little more time."

Almost as if on cue, Toot-toot zipped in from above and perched himself on top of Nora's head, standing at rigid attention. Nora froze, her eyes wide and strained to look up at the pixie without moving her head.

Toot-toot slapped his hand against his head and squeaked, "My lord! I return with news for you!"

Harry let out a relieved sigh, "Good, great. So, how do we get around the horde?"

The pixie paused, and his wings fluttered with uncertainty, "Er, um… Well you see, my lord…"

Harry remained silent, but closed his eyes in resignation, "You couldn't find anything, could you?"

Toot slumped forward and his wings drooped, "Alas, no my lord. These foul beasts are infiltrating every cranny and nook in the airport. While the Za Lord's guard could sneak past them, you big-folk would… not."

"And if we got caught up in a fight, that could drag the entire horde down on our heads." Harry concluded. "Thank you Major General. Go gather the rest of the guard and wait for me to call. I might need you again."

Again Toot saluted and zipped away in a flash of light. Once he was gone, Harry glanced at Marcone and asked, "How many of your people are still up for fighting?"

"A dozen or so remain in fighting condition." Marcone replied smoothly, "The remainder were either killed or injured by the young man currently buried under the ground."

Mercury laughed, and Harry kicked more dirt on his face, making him sputter indignantly.

"Okay," Harry said, and turned back to everyone else. The Wardens of the White Council, many of them recruited during the war with the Red Court Vampires, looked at Harry with that youthful hope in their eyes. He was their hero, their inspiration, according to older members on the Council, and several of them had already died on his watch. If this went bottom up, so would the rest. The blame would solely be Harry's if that happened.

The same could be said of Pyrrha's friends. Harry hadn't asked Molly to bring them to Chicago, it was bad enough that Pyrrha had tagged along, they didn't need the extra hands to manage. But they were here now for however long this universe would tolerate them, and they were even younger than the Wardens with him. Four kids, really, and- wait.

Harry blinked, "Um, where's the fourth kid, Ruby?"

The trio looked amongst each other and Jaune said, "Last we saw, one of those big monkey-Grimm was fighting her."

A chill went down Harry's back, completely unrelated to the rain overhead, "You're sure? Where did they go?"

Ren pointed left along the fae lines, where a cluster of Grimm was swarming, unconcerned with the faeries slaughtering their kin. Though it was impossible to see exactly what was happening, it wasn't difficult to see the flashes of red and the rose petals that were covering the ground as Grimm screamed in agonized rage and frustration.

A deep-chested bellow echoed like thunder, and there was a surprised human cry. A flash of red was knocked clear of the Grimm horde, tumbling head over heels through the air and crashing into the open ground between the Wardens and the Grimm. Ruby rolled to a stop and lay on the ground stunned.

Her scythe careened out of control, spinning as it fell right towards the assembled onlookers. Harry shouted and everyone scattered as Crescent Rose crashed into the ground by the bottom of its hilt, no less than a foot from Marcone. The criminal overlord didn't so much as flinch away, even when the wickedly sharp edge of the scythe came to a wavering stop inches from his nose.

Marcone let out a long suffering sigh and looked past the scythe at team RNJR, "Children, please bring the girl back into our fold, so we may deal with these Grimm. The fewer we have running about causing havoc, the better."

He didn't need to tell any of them twice, they were already moving. Jaune reached her first and helped Ruby to her feet as fast as he could. The girl was unharmed but stunned, legs clumsy and slow to get beneath her. Ren joined them a moment later and supported Ruby's other side, while Nora guarded all three of them, knocking a Creep aside like it was a gnat.

The crowd of Grimm before them rapidly parted, but not quick enough. Something big and powerful surged through their ranks, and the Beringel knocked a pair of Beowolves in its charge. It came to a galloping stop on all four limbs with its lips pulled back in a snarl that exposed long fangs.

Silence reigned, even the storm grew quiet for the moment. Rain no longer fell from teh sky in droves, though lightning and thunder still boomed overhead. The Grimms eyes flicked from Ruby to the other humans behind her, and immediately focused on Harry. The suddenness of the gesture, and the clear sign of recognition in its eyes was enough to make Dresden step back and swallow nervously.

"Oh hells bells, it remembers me."

Nora aimed at the Beringel, finger resting lightly on the trigger. It noticed the action and turned back to her, taking a deep breath and…

The hard strum of a guitar, interrupted the Grimm before it could let loose another earth shaking roar. The Beringel and the Grimm around it paused, as did Harry and his Wardens, and looked towards the source of the sound. The guitar sounded again, joined by drums and the steady thrum of helicopter blades. Right as the drums and guitar broke into a full opening solo, a trio of marble white helicopters, big suped up transports, crested over the airport. A stylized 'R' was emblazoned on the tail of each helicopter, and the lead one was blaring AC/DC's 'Shoot to Thrill' over a loudspeaker.

Harry grinned wildly and let out a whoop of excitement, "Oh, hell yeah!"

The lead chopper and its escort swooped over the battle ground towards him and the others, while the third broke off and the doors on the side slid open. Men in combat gear appeared hanging from the side, and unleashed hell on the Grimm pinned by the Fae. Bullets tore into the helpless monsters trapped on the ground, and soon explosions began to send smaller Grimm flying, and reduced the larger ones into shrapnel filled corpses.

The remaining two choppers swooped over head right as the Brian Johnson began belting lyrics. The lead choppers door practically roared open, and a pair of shapes dropped from the sky. The first smaller shape opened fire on the Beringel as it descended, eliciting a bellowing challenge from it. Lara Raith landed legs splayed on the ground, all grace and beauty, then leapt twenty feet away in a single bound, far out of reach of the Beringel's massive fists that caved the ground in where she had landed a moment ago.

The second shape came crashing down on its back a moment later, stabbing a cavalry saber deep into its shoulder. It roared in surprised rage and rose suddenly, but it was too little too late. Thomas backflipped off the Beringel before its massive hands could close around his head. When he landed, he propelled himself between its legs, slashing at its hindquarters as he moved in a blur of white and steel.

One leg went out and the Beringel fell to its side, in time for Lara to dart back in and use its massive arm as a ladder straight to its face. She sank her twin blades, each one a two foot long wavy short sword that glimmered in the pale stormlight, into the Beringels eyes, blinding it in an instant.

The Beringel's head whipped back and it howled in impotent rage, clapping at where it had last seen Lara, and at the source of its pain. But Lara had already moved, a continuous blur that clambered over the beasts head while dragging both blades with her.

As she came over on its back, Lara whirled mid-step and slammed her sword into its neck up to the hilt, and repeated the action with the opposite blade. In one smooth fluid motion, separated the Grimm's head from its shoulder. It's body crashed to the slick tarmac, where its head joined it a moment later where both evaporated in the rain.

Had Harry blinked, he might have missed the fight. It was over before it even had a chance to begin and was a very quick reminder of just how dangerous the White Court could be. They may have lacked the endurance of other supernatural monsters, but they were ruthless in battle and in a skirmish like the one he had just witnessed, they were at their strongest. Surprise and speed were the mainstay combat tactics of the White Court, and both Thomas and Lara had known what to expect this time. The Beringel hadn't had a chance in hell against the both of them.

And the rest of the Grimm that had accompanied it were just as screwed. More shapes fell from the chopper, all of them graceful and beautiful women in white that, in the rain, were made exceptionally appealing to the eye. Over half a dozen white court vampires joined Thomas and Lara, and tore through the Grimm in seconds. Overhead, another guitar solo started again, as the battle fell into a lul, and more figures descended from the chopper.

A trio of massive wolves landed almost silently, with Butters riding on the back of one of them. The Alphas were surprisingly unharmed, thought Butters looked little green. Ropes fell from one of the choppers, followed by men and women rappelled down. Murphy was the first with boots on the floor, and rushed to Harry before she'd even unhooked the rope.

"Harry, you're-!" She started, then paused and blinked in surprise, "Absolutely fine… huh."

He frowned, pursing his lips together, and tapped his staff against the ground, "Gee, you sound very disappointed about that Karrin. Is this picasso painting I call a face 'fine'?"

"Oh don't be such a baby," she replied, grinning, "Normally in a fight like this, I'd expect you to be in half a body cast and on crutches by now."

Harry made a show of leaning heavily on his staff and shrugged, "Well, you're half right, I guess."

Murphy's grin faded when she glanced around the growing crowd and noticed a particular absence, "What happened to Pyrrha? Is she all right?"

"She's fine, just hanging out in the triage," Harry jerked a thumb behind him.

She glanced behind him and pulled her lips tight. Harry raised a hand in a calming gesture, "Like I said, she's fine. Bit off more than she could chew when she fought Cinder, but if we make it out of this alive, she'll be fine."

That made Murphy roll her eyes and sigh, "You're kidding me. Why would she do that?"

"Long story, not important at the moment. What is important, is getting past that." he pointed at the warzone that rested between them and portal.

A particularly nasty explosion tossed a handful of Grimm into the air, where Fae magic froze them into inky black ice sculptures that shattered upon hitting the ground. Murphy swallowed slowly, and tightened her grip on her boxy little submachine gun.

"Right, easy."

Marcone spoke up, "This is why I advocated action, Dresden. The longer we waste discussing what we should do, the more likely it is that the Grimm will simply be too numerous for us to assault."

"Except that its Grimm all the way through," Harry retorted. "The only way through would be a frontal assault, and it would take a miracle for us to-"

The words died in Harry's mouth, and he almost slapped his forehead. Instead, he whirled around towards the Alphas and Butters, who had approached at a more casual pace. Butters was still atop Andy, and his complexion looked a little better.

"How you holding up Butters?" Harry asked.

Butters burped and covered his mouth, "Just… dandy. Lara's pilots certainly don't care for passenger safety."

"It was you and the former police officer who insisted we arrive as quickly as possible," Lara approached with her siblings in tow, wiping her blades along her arms. Thomas gave a faint nod to Harry, and casually slipped to his side.

"Nice entrance," Harry muttered to him. "You choose the music?"

"Of course. Lara doesn't have the taste for it." Thomas replied.

If Lara noticed, she didn't bother to show it, still focused on Butters with a hand on one shapely hip, "Perhaps next time you should consider the exact nature of your request, before you make it."

Butters swallowed deeply and burped one last time, "N-noted."

"Okay people," Harry interrupted, "Enough of the banter. We're all nervous about the big scary horde of psychotic nightmare death monsters, but here's the deal. If we want to get rid of the nightmare death monsters, we're going to have to charge in until we find the hellhole they crawled out of and cork it."

Thomas stared at Harry for a long minute, then at the horde. "Well… what's the worst that could happen?"

"Nothing, if Butters is leading."

All eyes turned to Butters, who blinked once and pointed at himself inquisitively. Harry nodded, "Yes, you. You have the Sword, remember?"

That made a fierce grin spread across Butters face, "Oh yeah, I do, don't I?"

"What sword?" asked Jaune. He and his friends returned to the group, with Ruby shuffling awkwardly over to where Crescent Rose lay, still impaled in the ground inches from Marcones face.

"Sorry sir," she murmured.

Marcone nodded, but kept his eyes on Butters, "I take it that, with Mr. Butters possession of a Sword of the Cross, the Grimm become especially susceptible to attack?"

Harry felt annoyed that Marcone had to know at all about Butters being a Knight, but that didn't stop him from nodding, "Yeah. The light from the sword is like their kryptonite, they can't stand it."

"So if Butters leads the charge, it should give us some breathing room until we reach the portal." Karrin said.

Harry sighed, "Just like Chitzen Itza all over again, isn't it?"

"More explosive." Thomas noted.

"And wetter," Karrin added.

Harry ignored them and tapped his staff against the ground, "But we need more than that. The Sword alone isn't enough, not one of them anyway."

And then he hit upon an idea. A wonderful, simple idea.

* * *

It was perhaps worthy of note that Harry simply wasn't used to sheer number of resources at his disposal. In general, he was used to fighting in situations were at best, he could count on the support of a dozen or so individuals at best. With support from Marcone, the White Council, Lara, the Alphas, Pyrrha's team, the Fae, and his friends and family, he had access to over fifty incredibly powerful individuals willing to listen and work with him.

The simple fact that he was inexperienced with the deck in his favor was why it took him so long to decide on the proper plan of attack. But after a solid minute, the choppers began swapping over the Grimm once more, blaring the opening to 'Welcome to the Jungle' as they joined the third chopper on raining hell down on the Grimm.

The Fae lines, battered, beaten and bruised, but still standing, began to part as the opening riff filled the air. The Grimm sensed this opening, and began surging into the chokepoint, pushing aside any Fae that got in their way.

It made for a nice neat firing line for the twenty or so Wardens standing on the other side.

Ramirez roared a command to the Wardens, and they unleashed fiery hell. Now, it was worth noting that every wizard had a different method to their magic. Training as a Warden brought some uniformity in terms of basic skills like shields, but when it came to offensive magic, innovation was not only allowed, but encouraged.

The first waves of fire unleashed rolled forward in a carpet so thick and intense it immediately evaporated the water on the tarmac, sending up thick billowing clouids of steam. The first ranks of Grimm were incinerated in that inferno, those farther back fell to the ground as the fire scorched their limbs raw.

Streaks of light quickly filled the air after, beams of fire ranging from the size of a telephone pole to wire thin. More Grimm fell in burning corpses, quickly evaporating and allowing their comrades to absorb even more fire. Shooting stars arched overhead and exploded in artillery like procession, sending smaller Grimm flying and knocking larger Grimm to the ground. Miniature stars landed on the ground like landmines, detonating when Grimm strayed too close, leaving nothing in the wake of the brilliant light. There was no subtlety to this display of raw power, no control and no reservation. The Wardens reduced the Grimm before them to ash, and the ground around them to molten tar.

Then, the Fae unleashed their magics again.

As the fire died down, icy whirl storms knocked Grimm aside like bowling pins, frost instantly coated the ground, freezing the tar as quickly as it had melted. The Grimm were thrown into chaos from the follow up assault, their momentum and cohesion shattered.

That, was when Butters lead the charge. The Alphas howled, and Butters unsheathed Fidelacchius, allowing its brilliant white light to blanket the airport. At the same time, he let loose a fierce cry and screamed, "Polka will never die!"

Leading the charge, Butters was a beacon of light that cast aside the darkness as he charged. The Alphas acted as his escort, Andy still carrying him on his back like a wolfish steed. Behind him came the White Courts, fast, graceful, and beautiful as always: Grimm that sought to brave the holy light of the Sword were quickly cut down by them. Next came Jaune and the others, supporting the Whites as they ran, but focused primarily on making it to the portal. Finally, acting as rearguard came Marcones forces and the Wardens.

Harry could easily have kept pace with the Alphas if he dove into the power of the Winter Mantle. But while he might be able to keep up, it wouldn't have been smart for him to exhaust himself simply charging. As long as Butters was up front with his sword, the Grimm would be far easier to deal with. Those in the back, unprotected from the light, would find themselves under assault on a far more common basis, and this was where Harry would find himself at his strongest.

He, Ramirez, and Karrin ran side by side, unleashing hell as they ran. A Creep attempted to leap towards them, but Harry knocked aside with a lance of invisible force. A Beowolf's head exploded from a quick burst of rounds from Karrin's machine gun, and Ramirez's sword flashed, severing the leg of an Ursa and leaving it to be put down by another Warden.

Ahead, lesser Grimm continued to flee from the light that scorched their hides and burned their bones, but the older and stronger Grimm attempted to brave it's painful effects. They didn't get far before either a White Court cut them down, or someone from RNJR smashed/cut/decapitated them. In the presence of a sword, the Grimm were hardly a threat at all.

They had just about one hundred feet to go before the portal, practically the home stretch. So of course, it was then that something went wrong.

It was as Harry ducked under a Beowolves swipe and froze its head in Winter ice, that a bolt of lighting arced from the clouds overhead and smashed against the airport. The thunder that followed was practically physical in its presence, stunning all those present. Harry stumbled back and shook his head, regaining his line of sight in time to see a pair of shapes hurtle out of the sky and crash into the airport where lightning had struck a moment ago. The facade shattered in stone and glass, the upper floors collapsing and sliding off onto the tarmac in a great heap.

Harry felt his blood run cold. "Molly." he murmured.

Karrin looked up at him and then at the building, "Oh no."

Molly was their ace in the hole, the keystone to their plan. She was the only one among them strong enough to hold Cinder back until they closed the portal, maybe even beat her. But if Molly lost, or was put out of commission for whatever reason, Cinder would be free to unleash unholy hell on the entire expedition. That wasn't even considering what Cinder might do to Molly if she won.

Harry glanced at Ramirez and up ahead in Butters direction. He was still tearing through Grimm, cutting them down left and right as he rain. One of those griffin Grimm came screaming towards him, only for the edges of its wings to erupt in flames when it got too close. It crashed to the ground and was crushed under paw and foot.

They could take care of themselves fine, as long as the Sword was wielded properly. Harry looked to Ramirez, who was looking at where the Fall Maiden and Winter Lady had crashed.

Ramirez didn't even look at him as he spoke, "I'll keep things together till you get back Harry. I can handle a suicidal charge towards a gateway into hell. I do it every other Thursday in fact."

Harry clapped a hand on his shoulder, "Thanks Carlos."

"Denada."

With a gesture of his hand, Harry beckoned for Karrin to follow. Together they broke off from the main force towards the gaping wound in the side of the airport. Most of the Grimm were focused squarely on Butters, leaving plenty of open ground for them. Harry only prayed that they would make it in time.

* * *

This was far too easy, Jaune realized.

In the confusion that had followed the arrival of those strange flying machines, he hadn't been able to keep up with all the new faces that had joined them. All he knew was that this Butters guy had a weapon that scared the Grimm, which seemed almost paradoxical. Grimm existed to terrorize, not to be terrorized. But the weapon proved effective and he wasn't going to complain about that.

Without the rest of Cinders team to slow them down, the sheer power that had been unleashed to push through the Grimm had been staggering. Combined with Butters sword, it made logical sense that their sprint had been so easy. But something scratched at the back of Jaunes mind, something that screamed that this was far too easy.

Turns out, he was right.

As the portal finally came into view, which was enough to give Jaune a headache just looking at it, a pair of Beringels came barreling out from the other side. With the power of the Sword, they didn't last long, their flesh burning and the White Courts descending on them like a pack of rabid wolves. Jaune didn't know what the White Courts were, besides pants tighteningly beautiful, but it was also very clear they weren't even remotely human. Which kind of counter balanced the pants tightening to manageable levels.

When the Beringels went down, the massive wolves leaped over the White Courts with Butters in the lead and made a dead sprint for the portal. They got within ten feet of it, when there was a shout, and a wall of invisible force exploded from the portal. It felt like a train hit Jaune across his entire body, knocking him flat on his face. The train decided to park itself on his back, as he found himself pinned flat to the floor.

He strained to move his head and eyes, and saw that it wasn't just him. The rest of his team, the White Courts, Butters, even the Wardens and Marcones people had been pinned to the ground. A handful of Wardens remained standing, but they were fiercely focused on the ground, mouths murmuring furiously in incantations.

Jaune looked forward again and felt his heart drop. Butters lay spread eagle on the ground, clearly trying and failing to get up. The wolves were similarly crushed beneath this invisible weight, and the Sword and its light was nowhere to be seen. Already, the Grimm were beginning to approach. Those that drew too close though, found themselves pinned as well, which was a small relief.

Looking past Butters, Jaune saw the culprit responsible for this swift change of events. A man clad in dark robes stood on the other side of the portal, both hands spread. His face was hidden behind his robes, but when he spoke, his voice rumbled through the air like thunder.

"Arrogant fools. Did you truly believe you could so easily approach this Anchor? No, your time on this world is over, change comes to Earth and to Remnant, and I am it's instrument."

As he finished speaking, shapes filled the portal, familiar ghostly shapes that filled Jaune with dread.

There were two of them, both far larger than the one he had seen before. They floated over the ground like ghosts, made of a semi-transparent black substance shaped in a vaguely humanoid torso. Their arms were far too long and ended in three clawed hands, while they wore a pale white mask over their shapeless heads. They were called Geists, and from the looks of it, these two were very, very old.

As they pulled themselves through the portal, both Geists darted forward into the air, spreading their unnaturally long arms wide, and then rocketing forward into the debris that littered the battlefield. The hulking burnt out remains of flying machines shuddered and pulsed with malevolent energy, steel groaning and creaking under the strain of Grimm power.

Jaune couldn't see all of what happened next. What he saw was a mass of steel and concrete slam down in front of the portal, blocking it from view. It took Jaune a moment to realize that what he was looking at wasn't its leg or body, but the Geist's newly formed hand. He forced himself to follow it higher and higher and higher, watching as debris seemed to lift itself into place, forming a new body of ruined machinery.

A pair of burning white eyes, the Geists themselves, burned at what would be the colossus's 'head', close to two hundred feet above them all. The sound of combat from the Fae battlelines went utterly still as this hulking giant took form, and looked over the airport.

The bottom of its head split open into a steel filled 'mouth' and released a scraping hiss like rocks on steel. With one swipe of its massive arm, it shattered the Fae batteline. Magics bounced off the steel shell, and any Fae directly hit by it ignited into a screaming mass of fire. The Geists tilted back their head and let loose a metallic roar that deafened Jaune and shattered glass within a quarter mile radius.

And the Grimm responded in kind.

* * *

Cinder Fall staggered to her knees, and spat blood from her mouth. There was a cut on the inside of her lip, a minor annoyance to go with the rest of the small cuts and bruises that lined her body. Molly hadn't overpowered her Aura, the girl had made no attempt at it. But Cinder had very quickly learned that Molly had no intention of fighting fair.

She was no stranger to illusions, Emerald specialized in them after all, but Molly was in a league all her own. It had been a struggle for Cinder to retain even a basic understanding of the world around her, and nearly every time she attempted to strike at Molly, it had been revealed to be another trick. That was when Molly would strike, when Cinder simply couldn't defend herself in time.

Attempting to keep her Aura up at all times was difficult and exhausting. Obviously Cinder knew how and when to apply it, but she didn't even have a basic sense of where Molly would strike from, and that paranoia had eaten away at her as much as Molly's quick strikes.

What had evened the score in Cinder's eyes though, was when she had simply had enough of those hit and run attacks and grabbed Molly around the chest during her next attack. Together, they had plummeted from the sky into the airport, an impact that had been more exhausting than Cinder had anticipated.

She stared at both her hands, which still retained the burns from her fight with Pyrrha. The girl had put a greater strain on her than Cinder had anticipated, and Molly was taking her apart as a result. A very real nugget of fear had lodged itself into Cinders mind, a fact that she refused to accept as possible.

Molly might win.

Cinder, could lose.

That very thought sent spasms of anger through her frame, and she ground her teeth together, feeling power surge back into her once again.

"Oh my, someone's angry." Molly practically sang.

Cinder's head snapped up, in time to see Molly kick her across the chin, sending her flying onto her back with stars in her eye. Molly chuckled and slowly walked towards Cinder, her boots thudding against the concrete floor. She sidestepped a piece of iron rebar on the floor, and dusted her hands off.

"I'm curious Cinder," Molly said as she walked towards her, "how does it feel to be powerless?"

With a wave of her fingers, ice began forming along Molly's fingers in long claw like appendages. Molly flexed her fingers, and let loose a predatory grin. Frost coated the edges of the Fae armor she wore, and her eyes were wide with excitement and pleasure.

"How does it feel to be the victim!?" she lashed her hand out, releasing the shards of ice as she did. Cinder rolled aside as the ice embedded itself where her head had been a minute ago.

Molly was at her side in an instant and landed a savage kick in her side, knocking the air from her. Cinder curled on the ground and glared up at Molly. Molly sneered at her, "How does it feel, Cinder, to watch all you've worked for, your hopes and dreams, die!?"

She stomped on Cinder's stomach, hard. Cinder gagged and gasped for air, while Molly casually knocked her over onto her stomach. More anger filled Cinder, and she clenched her fists tight, scraping her knuckles against rubble and ash. She whirled to her feet, unleashing a ball of fire that passed right through Molly without a hint of resistance.

The illusion faded and Molly took a handful of Cinders hair and slammed her against the nearest wall. It cracked and Cinder lay there unmoving, letting Molly approach her and pin her to the wall by the throat.

"Well, Cinder?" Molly asked, "Any final words before I drag you screaming to Arctis Tor? I'm sure my boss will love tearing everything you know from you piece by piece. Right now though?"

She pushed hard, until the wall behind Cinder cracked and she gasped for air. Molly's grin went wide, and the walls and floors around them began to layer in frost.

"Oh, right now I'm just enjoying this. After all you've done, you're finally getting what you deserve. Payback, for the lives you took, the homes you destroyed, and the world's you've damaged. It's end of the line, Cinder, so I'd make your last words something snappy. Something good for the history books."

Cinder opened her one good eye, and looked at Molly expressionless. "You talk too much." she rasped.

There was no warning when Cinder tried to slam the iron bolt into the side of Molly's skull. Molly had been expecting some form of final attack, and knocked Cinder's hand aside. The bolt fell from her grip, tumbling end over end, and bounced off Molly's cheek.

Brilliant blue and white fire erupted from the touch, and Molly screamed in surprised agony, immediately releasing Cinder to grasp at her cheek. The moment she did, Cinder sprung into action, unleashing her power. She punched at Molly with her bare hands, hitting hard enough to dent the armor plating around her chest and knock her backwards into a fallen pillar. Concrete shattered, revealing the steel supports within.

Cinder sped across the floor between them, grabbed Molly by the face, and slammed her head into the exposed iron once. Molly howled with pure animal agony, fire spreading wherever the iron touched her bare skin. Cinder tossed her to the ground, and ripped the rebar from teh pillar, testing its weight in both hands.

Once satisfied, she turned on Molly, raised it over head, and brought it down on Molly's back. Again and again, she beat the helpless Winter Lady with cold iron, tearing apart the protective armor she wore with each blow. Slowly bits of the armor came apart, exposing slivers of skin. When Cinder saw those, she would drag the bar across them, leaving burns in its wake and eliciting more screams from Molly.

Several times she did this, until Molly was left curled into a ball on the floor, whimpering in pain. Cinder stood over her, panting hard and oh so satisfied. She used one foot to roll Molly onto her back and planted her knee against her chest. With but a thought, Cinder released heat into the iron bar until it glowed red hot.

Grasping it in both hands, Cinder raised it over head, aiming for Molly's throat-

'Forzare!'

Unseen force crashed into Cinder from behind, sending her tumbling head over heels into the nearest pile of rubble. She quickly got back to her feet, sneering at her new challenger, calling upon her power as the Fall Maiden to smite him down.

Harry Dresden stood in front of Molly's vulnerable form, ice coating his staff and duster in layers, the air trembling with untapped power, and his face twisted in an expression of sheer naked hatred and contempt.

"Stay away from her, you bitch!"

* * *

 **A/N: My original plan for these fight scenes would have been far longer and more complex, but given the time I had to think about it, I realized that they ultimately didn't need to be described in detail. As I write, I'm beginning to learn that not every action and conflict, on a large scale anyway, needs to be detailed. Its the smaller interpersonal conflicts that are more important. Things like what happened this chapter benefit better from general summarization and grand scale. I only hope I managed to do that well.  
**

 **Which brings me to what might be a mild point of contention, how fast the Beringel went down. To that I'll point out that it was ambushed by a pair of new opponents, and that the Beringel itself has been shown to be particularly weak to thrust based stabbing attacks. Hence why the greatest damage done to it, was via stabbing and by beings that can move fast enough to pull off attacks like that.**

 **That's another thing, I've been rereading the Dresden Files again and I realize I kinda horrible nerfed the White Court. While they could never match a Huntsman in terms of endurance or what they could do with their Semblance, a White Court is more than fast and strong enough to temporarily match or even surpass a huntsman. This would of course vary depending on the Huntsman and White Court Vampire, but the point still stands. When I inititate Project Editorial Mandate, that is one of the first things I'll be rectifying.  
**

 **Anyway, rant out of the way, I'm surprised by how fast I got this chapter out. No idea when the next will go up, hope it'll go up soon. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and please let me know what you thought in the comments below. Feel free to pester me with questions too. Otherwise, I'll see you all next time!**


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